Missoura' Beauty

This last weekend, a friend in a photography classes spotted my 6'2 frame and asked me to be her model for her photography project. I agreed and we set out to Radio Springs, a nearby pond/lake and began to work. Throughout the whole time she continued to tell me to remain natural. She was fed up with fake pictures that clearly were posed and inhuman. If I made a face to be funny and laughed, she shot a photo. Other than that, she moved a foot or a hand here and there and let me do what I felt was right. I looked at her portfolio of past photos and I was surprised. People that never entered my mind as outright gorgeous were beautiful. From, wearing inter-tubes, to semi-nude photos, these girls were normal looking and yet they shined. Girls that everyone bad mouthed for being too loud, too weird, or too talkative. I became interested in them; wanted to know how they thought and carried themselves. Without being told to do anything, they were simply themselves and let the camera roll.

In ceramics, we had to do a 1/4th size human sculpture and we had a real model come in for reference. It was a student who was perfectly normal. No victoria's secret body and no salon style luscious waves. In carving my figure I noticed how I was eager to slim down the waist and add a few inches to the breasts. The feet, I wanted to make relatively small and the curves, despite her tiny waist, would be lovely! I wasn't constructing a woman. Barbie herself would probably have told me to get real with my expectations of the human body.

Walking back to the college after the photo shoot, the photographer explained how she loved to capture the natural inner beauty of models. If the smile wasn't real she wanted no part of it. Inner beauty has been the topic of discussion for a long time. However, even while self esteem books encourage us to look deeper to appreciate our beauty, work out and diet programs still attract much attention. Why is it so important to be perfect? Is beautiful makeup, hair, clothes, and bodies all really worth it? I stare at all my imperfections everyday in the GYM mirror and wish I could just cut the skin off like clay. As I do this, my inner beauty sinks and turns murky. Others see a girl who's looks are alright but her innards need help. Others stare with me and do more crunches until they see a six pack. Michelle, a beautiful suitemate of mine hides her real weight and overworks herself at the gym. Not a girl at Cottey would argue against her beauty. Still she brings herself down and states how much better life would be if she were 10 lbs lighter. No amount of talking to her helps. She is unsatisfied.

In psychology, we learnt how the human mind adapts to every scenario it is placed in. That is why those who win the lottery aren't on an emotional high forever; they come to accept their new lifestyle. So theoretically, girls who drop 10-25 lbs would get used to it and find more things to worry and complain about. The endless chain of striving for perfection is exhausting and it adds to the stress that exists already in daily life. After realizing my imperfections, I see others with the same parts and wonder how they can sit back and allow their bodies to do that. They are amazing people and somehow, they are so comfortable with who they are. They are attractive both internally and outwardly. Maybe they just don't care. They still have self control but they accept who they are. Outwardly, their looks are average, but when they turn around to face me, they are drop dead gorgeous.

What was compelling me to make those radical changes to the model's body? I looked at the model and saw how she too had imperfections. Rather than cutting clay off, I should have added some natural weight to the waist; so I did. I finished my figure to resemble a human. Not a Barbie, but Brittany, our model.