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by Natalie Lynn Borton

One of the many reasons I love my girlfriends is that we email each other regularly–whether to check in, to share news, to pass along links or YouTube videos. On Thursday, Erin sent us an email titled “whales for life” with a link to a post from the Sunnie Brook beauty blog. In the post, Sunnie included a story she read on beauty that was oh-so-profound and true. Read and be inspired…

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

“Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness. They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia. They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on CDs. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist. But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish? They would have no sex life and could not bear children. Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad. And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I’d rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn’t enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies. We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated. Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: “How amazing am I?!”

Regardless of my size, I pray that I will be like the whale described in this story. What a beautiful picture of what really matters in life–of what is truly beautiful and worth living for. Ladies, let’s stop trying to be mermaids and start living the whale’s life!

How does this story affect your view of beauty?

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