Beauty Not Always in Eye of Beholder

Beauty. Recognize and appreciate the beauty. Respect it. I had a few people mention the fine-art photograph I had on my post yesterday, Living Without A Goal. This piece of art is beautiful. The comments people gave are thoughtful and beautiful in their own right. But it goes further than flesh and form. When someone comes into our community, do we see them as they are, sure... with all their struggles and weaknesses... but what about their own beauty. Each one is beautiful. Is each one seen? Is each one respected? When beauty is recognized and appreciated, then our urges to change it become redundant. With the photo yesterday, if you really see it and appreciate it, how would you want to change her, or change Howard's photograph? When you see a beautiful flower, how would you want to manipulate it into anything else other than what it already is? I am surrounded by people who have been under pressure to change. I have been under pressure to change, to conform to someone else's expectations, to their vision they have of me. What that does is tell the person that in fact they aren't beautiful at all but ugly. Appreciate and respect the beauty in other people. But first you have to see it. So we try to create an environment where people can freely blossom in the good soil of love and respect. The fine art photograph is the creation of my friend Jorgen Klausen.