If you saw me in a public place, maybe you’d think I was checking people out. Like, everyone. Boys, girls, non-binary, there are too many genders to list with all the terminology that’s out there, but you know what? It doesn’t matter.
I don’t check people out because I’m some crazed teenager looking for a possible relationship, I look at people because I think humans are beautiful. I don’t look at a male model and say “Wow, he’s hot.” Well, maybe some of the time, but not always. I look at my friends, my family, random people on the street and think,
“Wow. That person is a work of art.”
Humans are art, that’s what I think. Those painters of older times who painted and sculpted naked humans because they thought they were beautiful weren’t wrong. They were completely right.
Who knew Mother Earth was such an artist. She’s a painter, a sculptor, a fashion designer. She never runs out of ideas either. Just look around you, and you’ll see I’m right.
Whenever I look at my friends, I think “Wow. They’re pretty.” But it’s not about just physical attractiveness or not . When I look at Lily, I don’t really pay attention to the fact she never wears makeup (not that I care, or that it matters), or that she has a little bit of acne. I always notice the way the left side of her mouth turns up when she smiles, or even when she’s thinking, or how her eyes get all squinty when she laughs out loud, and I mean really laughs. I remember how happy she looks when she eats Nutella. And Reese, she has perfect lips. Like, ideally shaped, nice and full and round and generally they make me think of an angel. She dresses however the hell she wants, and wears heels better than anyone I’ve ever met. And she’s hilarious, not to mention a talented artist.
Elizabeth has really pretty blonde hair, nice and thick and smooth, and it just looks like a princess. Katie has cute freckles and nice delicate lips, soft and very pink. Sometimes her eyes seem purple because of her glasses frames and eyeshadow. Vero (if that’s what they want to be called) has blonde hair now, and they look great. I know they don’t identify as male or female, but that’s what makes them so interesting. Sometimes they look more male, sometimes they look more female, but they are always beautiful. They look so happy when their gigantic bread loaf corgi is in their arms, and have these greeney-hazel eyes and freckles. God, I love freckles. It’s like someone decided to sprinkle their cheeks with cinnamon before they were born. I guess I’ll talk about some boys, while I’m at it. Cooper is very attractive. There’s no getting around it. He’s annoying as hell, but still. Cooper looks like a Roman statue. Cesarean profile (especially the nose), and that brown hair that is straight at the top of his head, but gets curly at the bottom. And he has those really nice piercing blue eyes, the ones he got from his Grandfather. His hands in winter are always reddish-purple because of poor circulation. Lucas is handsome too, with the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen, and those green-blue eyes that kind of change color sometimes. He has a nice smile, big and sunshiney.
Jennifer is big and solid, with her tan skin and glossy dark hair, thick as it comes. Her voice is deep and reminds me of melted chocolate. Taylor is pretty, with her long mermaid hair and radiant smile, and normal brown eyes that somehow transcend normality. She always smells nice, almost floral, and gives the best hugs. Gosh I could go on and on and on about how beautiful people are. My sister has glowing skin and rosy cheeks and big turquoise eyes with long eyelashes and that pixie cut that makes her look like a fairy. She’s wiry and lean, not like me so much, and I can tell how pretty she’ll be someday. Lilli has the greatest hair, blondish brown that falls in crazy ringlets everywhere and light green eyes, porcelain skin. Emma is a beauty, like a horse, all thin and muscular and powerful, and almost exotic looking with her blue-grey Asian eyes and nut brown hair. Hannah is pale, like marble, with little dark brown moles dotting her skin. Her light eyes match her complexion. She wishes she had blue, but I like her green-grey eyes. Kestrel is a goddess. Tall, lean, flawless skin a nice glossy bronze-pink, with her gorgeous smile and long shiny brown princess hair, deep brown eyes like a wild fawn. Caty is majestic, her short brown bob and full lips make her look like a vintage beauty, like Marilyn Monroe. She’s one of the best singers I’ve ever heard. I can just picture her in a smoky nightclub in Paris, one hand on the piano, the other holding a mike, wearing one of those form fitting red sequined gowns. She’s tall, almost 5’ 10”, and shaped like an hourglass. She shows it off too, sometimes, and she deserves to. Anyone does.
All these descriptions of my friends are probably starting to get boring, and I could go on and on and on about every person I know, and what makes them a work of art. Every person is beautiful in their own way. Sometimes it’s not on the surface, and sometimes there’s just that one quirk about a person that kind of makes you fall in love with them, in a way. Not really LOVE exactly but more like “God, I’m fascinated by humans, and that dimple in your smile and your magenta cheeks really draw my attention, and every time I look at you I’m just gonna look at your smile and never anything else and I’ll probably get lost.” I’m not kidding, I could be perfectly content just watching someone’s mouth as they talk, or sing, or even someone’s hands as they draw, or play the piano (God that’s beautiful). Hands could have an entire genre of their own. Have you ever watched someone play violin? It’s incredible.
I kind of got off track, but I guess the point of all this was to say how beautiful people are. And I didn’t even talk about nature. But if you ever feel down, remember that the world is an amazingly beautiful place filled with amazingly beautiful people. Here’s my call to action: next time you’re with anyone, your friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, sister, brother, uncle, teacher, or even some random stranger at a bus stop, LOOK AT THEM. Really look. Try not to be too creepy about it though, but I can almost guarantee you’ll find something about them you never knew was there. Look at the way they talk. Look at their eyes, or the curve of their nose. Watch their feet, even. View people like an artist looks at a piece of art, or a scientist observes a mountain lion. If you look, really look, you’ll see that everyone is art, and art doesn’t have to be pretty. Art should make you think, like, “What is the artist trying to convey? What’s the significance of the mole on the girl’s finger?” Analyze people like a book, a poem, or a painting. There’s so much more to people than meets the eye, and if we all just looked at each other, really looked, we’d discover how amazing each and every human being is.