You Are Beautiful

These are two flowers from the same tree in Hawaii.

This is a serious post.

So this is not a nonchalant oh-look-at-my-pictures post.

This is serious.

So serious I had to use italics. (I never use italics)

Serious.

I'm going to talk about bullying.

Yes, there are pictures, but I will also do a lot of talking (well, typing) and explaining.

So I encourage you to read what i have to say . . . er, type.

Bullying is very real. It's a sad but true fact.

I wish I could get rid of bullying; but I can't.

I can only try to inspire and encourage those who are hurting.

I see more and more teenagers with depression, and self harm is more common than some think. Many people commit suicide while suffering from depression and low self-esteem.

I always hear "I'm fat" or "I'm ugly" or "who could ever love someone like me". It always hurts me to hear someone say a negative adjective after the words "I am". Mainly because they are not what they describe themselves as.

One of my close friends honestly thinks that she's fat and ugly, when I see a gorgeous and talented girl in front of me. It pains me that she can't see it.

It pains me that other's can't see that they are amazing, pretty/handsome, talented, and loved. Nobody's perfect, but why do we strive to be and think that we are useless if we make a mistake. I think some people know that they can't be perfect, but everyone else seems to be, so they feel bad about themselves. They only look at their flaws and compare them to other's successes.

How fair is that?

It's like saying that you have a sports car, a mansion, and 5 adorable dogs; but someone else has a small house on the beach, has won surfing competitions, and has 2 cats. You don't have a house on the beach, you can't surf, and you don't have any cats. But look, their house is small and yours is big. They don't have a sports car, and they don't have any adorable dogs. But how can you compare the two? How can you compare a rainbow to a unicorn? Both are beautiful, but they aren't the same.

2 people are beautiful, but aren't the same.

So why compare yourself to others?

You are beautiful too.

(ooh, bold AND italics)

And if you feel like you aren't loved or nobody cares,

I care.

People care, I promise. You just can't see it because your emotions are clouding your eyes. Please trust me, I've been there. I've seen depressed people on Instagram who honestly don't feel loved. When people they don't even know say it on their Instagram because they do care and they read it, they still don't believe it. I know I've said it to others that I don't know. I still honestly care, even though I may not know this person. But it breaks my heart when I see people who still feel unloved and unwanted even after tons of people say on their Instagram that they care.

They don't believe that people could care for them. I hope you aren't past that point. Because people DO care. You ARE loved.

Over the course of the past year, I have taken a few pictures that relate to bullying. Some are about actual bullying, some are about the emotional and physical reactions to bullying. And others address the reality that some people can't see because of their emotions.

This first picture has to do with the actual bullying. Of course this is just one way it can  happen. It is suppose to symbolize the words that people say to others that hurt. I've seen people believe the lies that people call them, and they want it to end - even if they kill themselves to make it end. This picture shows the awful words "Kill yourself" from an anonymous person. Too often on the internet people use the mask of "anonymous" on websites on tumblr or ask.fm or other places to say hurtful things to others.

This picture represents the loneliness and sadness that someone feels when bullied. The girl in the picture is wrestling with her thoughts and emotions, and just plain feels awful.

This picture and the next one express the feeling of depression or not being good enough.

The girl in these pictures obviously has given in to her emotions and has let them take over. She now has no control over what she feels, and her heart pains.

I took this picture with the idea of the feeling of loneliness. Around the time of this shoot, I honestly felt alone and like nobody cared. I could disappear and nobody would chase after me or look or do anything. This picture came from those feelings of loneliness. Now, I wasn't bullied at this time, but these emotions can be caused by bullying as well as other things (which was my case). Just a note though - people do care, and I figured that out. People cared the entire time I was telling myself that nobody did. A fact of life is that there is always at least one person who cares.

I am a Christian and a strong believer in God and Christ. You don't have to be or agree with me, but God always loves you. No matter what. There's no "God couldn't love me because I sin and I'm an awful person." God hates sin, yes, but He knows that we can't help it. We are only human and we all sin and we all have awful moments. I've been told that I'm super nice and sweet and I just think of times I've been really mean to people. God loved me through the entire thing even when I sinned. He just did not like the sin. (I really hope my point on this is getting across. I don't feel like I'm doing a good job of explaining.) But anyway, the point is that God will always love you even if you feel like no one on earth does. God has brought me comfort so many times that I can't count them all. I encourage you to go to Him if you feel sad and lonely or depressed, or any time really. Even when you're happy.