Unpretty

"You can buy your hair if it won't grow
You can fix your nose if he says so

You can buy all the make up that M.A.C. can make

But if you can't look inside you
Find out who am I too
Be in the position to make me feel so
Damn unpretty
I'll make you feel unpretty too"

Unpretty - TLC

Last year, during the four months when I more or less ran away from New Zealand, I spent some time with my aunt and uncle in Queensland. It was a strange meeting of sorts - we had been distant for many years as a result of busy schedules and a large body of water between us. We reconnected a few years ago and I thought I would pop in during my travels around Australia. Well, a 'pop in' quickly turned into slumming it on their air mattress for three weeks and doing nothing useful while I killed time before flying onto my next destination. While I was there I did manage to learn a few things - how to cook some stuff, how to look after chickens, how people in Queensland go about their business and how many triple chocolate biscuits I can eat before I start to feel sick. 

On a more serious note, my aunt - who is the biggest free spirit I have ever met - took me through joyful learning experiences, because that's what she is good at doing. We talked about how to bring joy into your life and how to get rid of pesky things like worry and stress. There was one thing she said and it has stuck with me since: to help her bring more joy she treats her mind like another person. At first I thought that was quite a strange concept, but then I thought some more and realised what she was getting at.

It's about respecting your mind, and therefore, yourself. When you think bad thoughts about yourself and about your life, you are allowing negativity in. As TLC say, you could look in the mirror and think that you are damn unpretty. But here's the kicker: you would never look at your friend and say "damn you're unpretty". We spend so much time pouring compliments onto other people that we forget about ourselves or worse, we don't think we deserve the same kindness.

So be a bit nicer to yourself. Treat yourself how you would treat other people. Don't call yourself unpretty. Kick your nasty habits that don't do you any good. It's like our good friends TLC say - you can change your outside all you want but you still need to look inside you and find your inner prettiness.