Artist: GraffRoots
Last week we did our first Rewrite Beautiful Street Art lesson with a group of girls ages, 6 to 10. I was rehashing the highlights of the lesson with some girl friends this weekend over a soy milk chai. I told my gal pals about the part where I tell the kiddo's, "I believe being beautiful has nothing to do with the way you look and has everything to do with the way you act. We're gonna make some art that says I'm beautiful and you're beautiful and then we're gonna put it outside as a statement saying, 'We dont' care how every body else measures beautiful. We're beautiful, we know it and don't need anyone to tell us so." My friends looked at me with wide eyes and asked, "And what did they say? Did they dig it?" I wanted to say, "Duh." but then I remembered this isn't 1994 and I'm not a jerk so I said, "Well heck yeah!" The kiddo's said, "Party - on! Let's go! Where's the spray paint?"
I was surprised at the shock of my friends to hear how open the girls were to this concept. I then realized as women in their mid to late 20's, we have it ingrained in us what beauty is, the same way we have it ingrained in us the color of blue jeans. I felt I needed to elaborate so I told them, "Ya know, I think the kiddo's get it because at their core, (at the core of us all really,) we all want to be loved for WHO WE ARE not WHAT WE LOOK LIKE. We all know it's wrong to judge people based on their looks. I think the kids grasp this because it's one of those inherent truths we're born with, kind of like the truth that murder and stealing are wrong."
The diet and beauty industry are a powerful multi-billion dollar force out there. Though they are a contributor to body dysmorphia and Eating Disorders, I dont' consider them the problem (You can read more about that on my other blog here) The problem isn't them... it's ALL OF US. We go against our inherent belief that WHO WE ARE is beautiful enough and find ourselves lost in a desert. Pursuing beauty isn't just some fad diet you go on for a summer, it's really a betrayal of the soul. It's turning your back on who you were created to be and thinking, "The body I've been given is wrong.I know better, I'm going that way. Peace Out." The sad thing is the other way never holds a beauty that is good enough. So girls just end up in that desert, starving chasing the mirage of beauty that they just can't find, because their looking in the wrong place for the wrong thing.
So, I don't find it too odd that 6 and 10 year olds are so amped to Rewrite Beautiful...because if we are truly honest with ourselves we all desperately want out of the desert and the freedom to Rewrite Beautiful too.
You're Beautiful!
Irvina
