Kindness Is Beautiful; A Letter
To The Girls Who Started The Instagram Account, "Ugly People," As A Way To Bully And Hurt Others:
No, no, no, girls, you've got it all wrong! You think you are witty and clever, attacking innocent victims who you believe to be less than you. You think you have an idea of what it means to be beautiful (with society and media being powerful influencers), despite your life experience (or lack thereof) and immaturity. Goodness! Those underdeveloped brains of yours cause you to think you know so much more than you actually do!
Here is what I know; what I have learned over the course of my perfectly imperfect life:
Cruelty is not beautiful. Anger is not beautiful. Jealousy is not beautiful. Spite is not beautiful. Bullying is not beautiful. Rallying your peers to hurt another is not beautiful. Using social media to break hearts is not beautiful. These vices--dark and soul-staining--will never be beautiful.
This is a photocopy of a very old picture of my grandma. She's wearing a fabulous telephone sweater, pencil skirt, a hat, and pearl earrings. She looks classy and stylish. But do you know what made her the most beautiful and the most stunning? The fact that she was kind. Compassionate. Smart. Happy. She was always happy, always smiling, always laughing. Being anxiously concerned about the welfare of others was a part of her daily, regular routine. She sought to serve and uplift others. She was a registered nurse and dedicated a grand portion of her life to the nurturing of others--the poor, the sick, the lonely, the weak.
Through her example my grandma taught me many things; precious "pearls" passed down to generations of good and strong women. (Like my own mother.) She taught me that joy is beautiful. Intelligence is beautiful. Love is beautiful. Kindness is beautiful.
I believe kindness is the most beautiful of all.
Girls, you are a part of a great force for good on the earth. You are destined for womanhood--something more glorious than the sun, more significant than you are able to comprehend right now. And as you learn and grow and develop into the women you were born to become, you'll quickly realize the women at your side, the women at the bus stop, the women in your corners, the women in restaurants, the women guiding you and encouraging you are, in reality, your sisters. You'll see you've been a part of the ranks of a powerful sisterhood all along--by divine inheritance--and you'll come to see yourself as you truly are: Eternal. Beautiful.
You will come to see your sisters as they truly are, too.
And you'll find great beauty there.
Be wise in your words, careful in your actions. Be the kind of women your mothers and your grandmothers would be proud of. Choose love. Choose kindness. For we need each other, desperately. You can be the women to light lives and soothe souls. Use that ability to better a scary and morally ugly world. I know you can do it.
You've got this, sisters.
With concern and love,
Mama Leisha
No, no, no, girls, you've got it all wrong! You think you are witty and clever, attacking innocent victims who you believe to be less than you. You think you have an idea of what it means to be beautiful (with society and media being powerful influencers), despite your life experience (or lack thereof) and immaturity. Goodness! Those underdeveloped brains of yours cause you to think you know so much more than you actually do!
Here is what I know; what I have learned over the course of my perfectly imperfect life:
Cruelty is not beautiful. Anger is not beautiful. Jealousy is not beautiful. Spite is not beautiful. Bullying is not beautiful. Rallying your peers to hurt another is not beautiful. Using social media to break hearts is not beautiful. These vices--dark and soul-staining--will never be beautiful.
This is a photocopy of a very old picture of my grandma. She's wearing a fabulous telephone sweater, pencil skirt, a hat, and pearl earrings. She looks classy and stylish. But do you know what made her the most beautiful and the most stunning? The fact that she was kind. Compassionate. Smart. Happy. She was always happy, always smiling, always laughing. Being anxiously concerned about the welfare of others was a part of her daily, regular routine. She sought to serve and uplift others. She was a registered nurse and dedicated a grand portion of her life to the nurturing of others--the poor, the sick, the lonely, the weak.
Through her example my grandma taught me many things; precious "pearls" passed down to generations of good and strong women. (Like my own mother.) She taught me that joy is beautiful. Intelligence is beautiful. Love is beautiful. Kindness is beautiful.
I believe kindness is the most beautiful of all.
Girls, you are a part of a great force for good on the earth. You are destined for womanhood--something more glorious than the sun, more significant than you are able to comprehend right now. And as you learn and grow and develop into the women you were born to become, you'll quickly realize the women at your side, the women at the bus stop, the women in your corners, the women in restaurants, the women guiding you and encouraging you are, in reality, your sisters. You'll see you've been a part of the ranks of a powerful sisterhood all along--by divine inheritance--and you'll come to see yourself as you truly are: Eternal. Beautiful.
You will come to see your sisters as they truly are, too.
And you'll find great beauty there.
Be wise in your words, careful in your actions. Be the kind of women your mothers and your grandmothers would be proud of. Choose love. Choose kindness. For we need each other, desperately. You can be the women to light lives and soothe souls. Use that ability to better a scary and morally ugly world. I know you can do it.
You've got this, sisters.
With concern and love,
Mama Leisha
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