Youthful Life: X

"Beauty is power; a smile is its sword." John Ray The process of becoming "pretty" or at least "prettier" has been fascinating for me. I vividly remember how people used to look through me, as if I wasn't there, as if I was invisible, as I wasn't even worth a passing glance. Now I get stared at, people do double-takes, and I feel too  seen. Couple that with the rarity of my deeply rich blackness in predominantly white spaces and its impossible for me to separate out what's the discomfort or fascination of me being black with me being aesthetically pleasing. Either way, I'm getting a lot more attention because of the way I look and I don't quite know how to deal with it. It seems like a fluke, a practical joke, or some kind of cruel prank but people are genuinely taking an interest in me. The compliments whether it be on my clothing, my smile, or my everything in general just come from every which way. I'm having difficulty a...

Being a teenagers means looking within yourself to figure out who you truly are. It's about defining what matters to you and doing what makes you happy. It's about standing up for what you believe in and taking a stand when you're wronged. One the greatest things that plagues us as young people is physical beauty. We're on a constant quest to be the best looking person of all time. All the products we use, acne creams, the clothes we wear, and some even go as far as plastic surgery for nose, boob and tushy jobs. It's out of hand. The pressure comes from everywhere, to please our parents, to attract the most girlies/suitors, and to be the center of attention, but what we don't realize is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't say that to be corny or cliché, it's meant to be read that we can only like how we look if first like ourselves. Get ready to go down and deep within yourself.   Yesterday, I was watching CNN with my dad and ordering ...