You are a masterpiece and how to see it

Throw out the rules of beauty, decide what is beautiful to you, and choose to see yourself as the masterpiece that YOU are.

I believe many of us see ourselves as though we are not exactly as beautiful, valuable, or worthy as we would like to be. We might compare ourselves to other women and think they are prettier, smarter, more fun, or more creative. Whatever the case may be, I believe it’s time to change the way we see things – and the way we see ourselves. 

Sitting in the dark room of an art history class in college, the professor flipped through pictures on an old projector. I sat in one of the middle rows, looking at artworks from the greats who had crafted sculptures and portraits of beautiful landscapes, still lifes, and figure drawings. But what really caught my attention was the way art had changed over the decades. And what caught my eye even more was the way the female figure and portrait had changed over the course of time. From clay-sculptured faces of women with small lips and disproportionate noses to paintings of naked, full-figured women, every generation seemed to translate the beauty of that time. 

Artists throughout history have captured and interpreted the beauty of their time. It was striking to see and learn what the culture defined as beauty of that time in comparison to what our culture defines as beauty (and beautiful women) now. 

It wasn’t until it came time to see the breakthrough of Pablo Picasso’s Cubism that I really began to see that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. 

Regardless of generation, culture, or creed, one thing I learned for sure: we are all capable of seeing and creating beauty, and yet, all things are not beautiful to everyone. 

But we can choose to see ourselves like art – that we are valuable, worthy of being seen and, yes, even a masterpiece. 

Here are three inspiring things we can glean from that art history class and that I hope will change the way you see yourself:

1. We are all in some way, works of art

Don’t hide what you are, but accept yourself as a masterpiece created by the ultimate Creator. It may take time to believe that, but I believe, we were uniquely created and designed by a Creator who loves variety. We all have a special look, gift, talent, or traits that specifically belong to us. Give yourself permission to be your favorite work of art.

2. Choose to see the beauty in you

My professor described the artwork displayed before us, but also the history behind it. Allow your story – your history – to encapsulate your beauty. There is beauty in everyone’s history. Allow your story to be part of what makes you beautiful. Embrace your history and choose to see it through the lens of beauty and art.

3. No matter what culture says beauty is, you can say something different

Be bold enough to embrace your kind of beauty. Every artist whose names are recorded in history have always pushed the limits, drawn outside of the lines, crossed some type of barrier. In some ways, they threw out all the rules and created something new and uniquely their own. And they went down in history.

Throw out the rules of beauty, decide what is beautiful to you, and choose to see yourself as the masterpiece that YOU are.

Embrace who God created you to be. And if you can’t go down in history, then at least you can be happy to be free.