A more beautiful you

Something came to my realization this week. It's one of those things that you know at the back of your mind but when a new angle of the same fact comes up, it gives it a whole new meaning. So what I realised was this: there is no woman who does not want to feel and look beautiful, however stubborn or 'tomboy-ish' she may seem to be.

A few things helped me come to this realization, one of them being a reality show called "How do I look?". Under normal circumstances, you would not find me watching reality shows...they're just not my cup of tea. But this show caught my eye for many reasons, the first one being that it actually helps bring about positive change in people's lives. I'm sure those of you who've never heard of the show are probably lost by now, so i'll try and explain. :)
"How do I look?" is a show that gives women a chance to get a totally new look, from wardrobe to hair and make-up. To be a participant of this show however, you need to be signed up by friends and relatives who have had enough of your current look and feel you need a change. The women who come on this show...it's appalling at how badly they dress. It ranges from very suggestive and scandalous clothing to wearing sack-like, unflattering clothes. Most of them come on the show with a defensive attitude and start off not willing to change how they dress, even if it's directly affecting their interpersonal relationships. Once they've gone through the whole show and  have seen just how negatively their dressing affects their lives and  their friends and family, they willingly change how they dress.

Being a reality show, some may say that it's not actually real and that its scripted just like any other television show, but I find it difficult to believe what goes on in that show is all scripted. Watching the transformation that takes place in the women who participate is amazing. My mom and I usually watch it together and although we may not always like the end result, you can tell that the women feel beautiful at the end of it all. The 'before' and 'after' is not only noticeable in the clothes, the hair and the make-up, but also in how they stand, how they carry themselves...their confidence gets a major booster shot. All most of these women needed was to be shown that they could look beautiful and feel attractive once more. And although the show does not do a follow-up I'm sure those women don't go back to the awful looks they had before their make-over.
My best part of the show is at the end, after the revealing of the 'new' woman, when she gets a gift from the show. The gift always has something to do with the woman's current or prospective career and provides a great foundation for them to keep pursuing their dreams. If you ask me, "How do I look?" does more of helping the woman re-discover her beauty, intellect and skills than it does giving her a new look.

I'd said it was a few things that helped me realise all women yearn to feel and look beautiful. Well, actually, it was just two things. The second was my one-time chance at being a runway model!
My mother's friend has a clothes shop and she wanted to advertise her new stock with a flourish, so she organised a mini fashion show. I'm glad she decided not to use professional models because that gave my sister, her niece, her friends and myself a chance of a lifetime to be runway models. Her clothes range from size 8 to size 20 and so did the models. And you know what, the older and more full-bodied women looked better than us size 8's! :D We all felt beautiful that night and we helped the women watching the show know that they could look just as beautiful. None of us models was the 'ideal' body height, weight and shape for models but it didn't matter. We had fun, strutted ourselves and showed off a wonderful collection. It was an amazing experience. I wish every woman could get a chance to experience it.

To all the women, I know you've heard this from different sources, but you are beautiful, no matter what anyone may say. And if I may quote Johnny Diaz on his song: 'there can never be a more beautiful you'. It's so true that when you feel beautiful, it oozes out of your pores and you look even more beautiful on the outside. So even as you enjoy spending time with family and friends this christmas, feel beautiful, speak beautifully, smell beautiful, you are beautiful.

Merry Christmas beautiful people!!