You Are More Beautiful Than You Think
Dark circles, acne, marks, bumps, bruises or freckles. When we look in the mirror our eyes are drawn to all of the tiny “imperfections” that we see. We try to cover them up, but they are always what sticks with us. This video by Dove shows a group of women how they view themselves compared to how others view them.
The Experiment
Women were asked by a trained former FBI forensic artist to describe themselves. Without seeing their face, he drew them exactly as they described. Then, the women meet with a stranger. After meeting this person they described them to the same artist. The result of the self-reflective drawing compared to the stranger’s description was truly incredible and eye opening. Take a look at the video below to see.
The Result
You are more beautiful than you think.
Those little things that draw your eye in the mirror are so small that others don’t even notice them. They see your kind eyes and your bright smile.
“I have some work to do on myself.”
The two drawings in some of the women’s experiences looked like different people. As women, we spend so much time focusing on the negative images we have of our body that we forget how beautiful we really are.
Just listening to the women describe themselves proved this. All of them used negative phrases to describe features. Some of the women were clearly uncomfortable and even had a difficult time talking about their features.
“I guess I haven’t compared it to anyone else’s chin, but umm… especially when, like, I smile, I just feel like it kind of protrudes a little bit.”
These same women, who were so hard on themselves, were so kind when describing the other women. Why are we so hard on ourselves? Don’t we deserve the same kindness that we give to others when looking in the mirror?
The Reaction
Seeing the reaction of the women when they saw their drawings side by side was something unlike anything I’ve seen before. It was watching these women rediscover how beautiful they really are. You could see in their eyes that their perception of themselves was changing.
“It’s troubling. I should be more grateful of my natural beauty. It impacts the choices and the friends that we make, the jobs we apply for, how we treat our children. It impacts everything. It couldn’t be more critical to your happiness.”
Let’s make the choice to let these negative views of ourselves go and to rediscover the beauty.
You are so much more than your reflection.
