People today brag about “No Filter” as if it is an accomplishment,

Bragging that they have not edited themselves,

Acting as if displaying the truth of yourself is some great, courageous act.

When did it become necessary to specify that we are unedited?

Why is it so hard for people to leave their homes,

To post online, to live their lives without altering their appearance?

Who decided that it is okay for filters to be the norm,

For people to be forced to try,

For others’ opinions of your appearance to affect how you see yourself?

Filters are not the norm.

Spending hours on your appearance,

For the hope that someone else will find you attractive,

Means you are altering yourself for the wrong reason.

No one else’s opinion matters – no one’s but your own.

We do not need to announce that we are unfiltered or makeup free.

It is not an accomplishment to be applauded by others.

It is who you are, not what you look like, that is beautiful.

We are, naturally, the best we can be.

We were created without filters, without makeup,

Without hair products and designer clothes and plastic surgery,

Because the way we look when we wake up in the morning is flawless.

Flawless meaning we are as we are meant to be,

Meaning that we as people are beautiful the way we are,

And not meaning that we are without flaws.

When did flaws become ugly?

Why is it that signs of being human are considered a weakness?

The holes in our humanity are the very aspects of our character

That make us who we are; Our flaws and our scars,

Our idiosyncrasies and our quirks

Are essential pieces of the mosaic that are each of us.

We should celebrate these by allowing them to speak for themselves.

For the person who you are speaks octaves louder

Than the filter – or lack thereof – that you use.