Wildly Convinced That You Are Uncommonly Beautiful

"When did we see each other face-to-face? 

Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. 

Before that, we were just looking at ideas of each other, 

like looking at your window shade but never seeing inside. 

But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in.

 The light can get out."

— John Green, Paper Towns



This TEDtalk takes a metaphor and turns it into something spectacular. A woman who is convinced that there is beauty, there is absolute and unadulterated beauty in all persons chases the essence of humanity and catches it's corner; what connects us, moves us, what makes us not only human, but humankind.

Dronestream

 NYU Masters student breaks down every known US drone strike since 2002:

There has got to be a better way to confront the issue terrorism. 

Your Body vs The World in 68 Seconds

Take care of your body: it's the only place you have to live in. 

And it's pretty freaking incredible. So use it to do something remarkable, that's what it's for.

“Naturally, for a person who finds his identity in something other than his full organism is less than half a man. He is cut off from complete participation in nature. Instead of being a body, he 'has' a body. Instead of living and loving he 'has' instincts for survival and copulation.” 
― Alan Wilson Watts

It's A Funny Word, Callous.

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Black Doll, White Doll, Which one is the nice doll?

We are all aware of the history of racism in America. However when it comes to present day racism, there is whole a different narrative. The following video is a study about race that will make your jaw drop:

Doll test originally by psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark:

 In the 21st century US, white skin is associated with a myriad of positive characteristics and adjectives. The halo effect of light skin tone is so bright and blatant that children as young as age four have internalized the connections. The halo effect is a kind of cognitive bias, where our overall impression, or what we perceive as the sum up of this impression (attractive / smart / agreeable / unintelligent) of a person influences how we judge their character. If we perceive a person to be attractive, ironically, we also assume them to be intelligent, kind and generally likable. When definitions of physical attractiveness are altered, consequently the definitions of the good, the bad and the ugly change as well. It is naturally impossible to clearly define the point at which the Western society decided that white is beautiful, as the issue is better understood as a long historical process of all encompassing politics of domination and persistent hierarchies. In the modern and past US, power, physical attractiveness and intelligence have always gone hand in hand and continue to do so. One need only possess one or two of the attributes, to be all three. While it may appear obvious that intelligent people can be unattractive and powerful people are not always intelligent, however, our social reality and the definitions of its aspects need not have anything to do with reality yet everything to do with our constructed social realities. 

It is heartbreaking to consider that even children believe this social reality to be unchangeable and take it for granted. What is crucial  here is to be aware of the halo effect and to understand that it comes from our primitive emotional brain. Moreover, beauty, among other positive traits which create a halo, is nothing but what the general public believes it to be. 

“Standing still is never an option so long as inequities remain embedded in the very fabric of the culture.” 
-Tim Wise

“Do I love you because you're beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you?”

Roald Dahl, The Twits

“For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. 
People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.” 
― Sam Levenson