What If We All Felt Amazing?
I love seeing little kids in superhero costumes or princess dresses. Even though they’re stuck here with the rest of us — sitting in…
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
I love seeing little kids in superhero costumes or princess dresses. Even though they’re stuck here with the rest of us — sitting in supermarket carts, waiting at the dentist’s office — they’re living another reality at the same time, one full of possibility and magic.
Last week, I saw a trailer for I Feel Pretty, a movie coming out this spring starring Amy Schumer. The premise is this: after sustaining a head injury, a woman named Renee sees herself as beautiful for the first time in her life. Her resulting confidence changes everything about her life socially, professionally, and romantically.
This being a contemporary comedy, the audience can predict that at some point, Renee will realize what everyone around her knows: when it comes to her looks, she is exactly the same person she was before her accident.
I’m pretty sure I know the point that I Feel Pretty will make, and it’s a good one. Our culture’s obsession with physical beauty governs a lot more about success than we’d like to admit. Amy Schumer creates a hilariously relatable character, and anyone who’s ever felt fat/awkward/unattractive/excluded can sympathize with Renee. There’s no question that we can all do better when it comes to inclusion and body positivity.
But watching the trailer, I wondered about something I’ve been thinking about ever since. What if we felt as amazing right now as Renee does after she hits her head? What kind of changes would we make in our lives? What great things would we dare to do?
We’re born with tremendous potential. What if there were a magic mirror that showed us what it was? And what if seeing it and wholeheartedly believing it gave us the energy and enthusiasm to make the very most of ourselves? What if we all saw one another that way, and did everything we could to encourage and lift everyone around us?