
(the pictures in this post are not mine, they are of a beautiful little girl named Sa’fyre Terry –
http://abcnews.go.com/US/girl-lost-family-fire-christmas-cards-presents/story?id=35675085 )
“In the eyes of a child there is joy, there is laughter
There is hope, there is trust, a chance to shape the future
For the lessons of life there is no better teacher
Than the look in the eyes of a child” ~ Air Supply
Yes, it is ok not to be perfect!
But this little baby IS beautiful just the way she is.
What a wise little girl. ❤
My sister told me about this sweet little Earth angel who she is going to send a card to and then I saw someone share her story on Facebook.
Isn't she just the cutest?!
She wants people to send her cards for Christmas.
She was burned in a tragic house fire where her family was killed.
I stare at her picture over and over and have nothing but love and compassion for her, not sorrow or pity. She doesn't need that. All she wants is LOVE and true love is seeing someone's beauty just the way it is.
One of my biggest dreams has been to do volunteer work in a burn unit for children. In the movie "Shallow Hal," the girl volunteers to work with little kids who have suffered burns. I always found that to be the sweetest thing and ever since I saw that movie, years ago, I decided I want to do that too!
I haven't been able to find any volunteer opportunities like that. Some volunteer jobs I found in similar settings require previous experience, which I don't have.
Hopefully one day though I will realize this dream! ❤ ❤
Some people have trouble looking at people who are seriously disfigured or deformed but I just cannot have that trouble because I feel too connected to others to see them as anything but beautiful, to see them as anything unlike myself. That body, that face, scarred or disfigured or deformed or flawless is a part of who they are. It's hard to explain in words but the closest I can come to explaining is their face or body is a big part of them like mine is a big part of me and I would never want someone to have difficulty looking at me and I'm sure no one else wants that either. What is the difference if my face is flawless or scarred or deformed? It's mine and inside I am still me. Just like all of us.
We are much more than what we look like but how we look is a part of us and it's good to embrace it and each other.
I am no different than this little girl. She has emotions, dreams, goals, interests, love, joy, pain, sorrow, happiness, scars, perfections, needs, desires, life, beauty…just like me.
When I look at her, I see a reflection of my own self.
My struggle with depression and severe facial pain & headaches has always inspired me to feel deeper connections to people with both seen and invisible disabilities.
A person with a physical scar or deformity may not feel the same or agree with me and I understand but my severe facial pain disorder, though it can't be seen, has always allowed me to feel a strong identification with others with facial disorders and even physical scars, deformities, birthmarks.
Mine cannot be seen but it's just as real. Mine is physical but also brings with it deep emotional scars and pain. It even hurts me to write or think about it.
But we all have basic empathy and can tune into it and strengthen it whether we have a disability or not. We don't need depression or any other disorder to empathize with others. But those things can help. We can all draw on our own experiences, both pleasant and painful, to identify with each other.
Also, at any second, any one of us can be slashed, scarred, disfigured, burned. And we would still be us. Would you want someone to cringe when those people look at you? Whether or not your face is disfigured, imagine a person having difficulty, emotionally, looking at you. It's not pleasant.
Not everyone who can't bring themselves to look at someone with a deformity or disfigurement is cold or cruel. Some are but most probably aren't. We aren't used to seeing things like that and often when a person is scarred or disfigured, it's the result of a serious injury and that's what often comes to mind when we see the scars. It doesn't make us callous or horrible if we have the urge to look away or cringe or stare but that can be overcome through tuning into our empathy and strongly identifying with the person. That person is not unlike someone with a perfect face. We are the same, we are One.
For this little girl, we can do more than just send her cards. We can live a life of compassion and empathy and learn to see the beauty of every single person we lay eyes on or encounter in any way. Even if we do nothing to help in a practical way, having a loving, compassionate attitude, essence, is very helpful and can contribute to us acting in loving ways consciously and unconsciously. Loving energy is very good. People sense our energy/vibration. Let's make it one of Love. All encompassing Love.
“You’ve found the place to walk the path you’ve chosen
You’ll never miss the world you’ve left behind
When life gives life, it’s happiness unbroken
When you give love, it’s love you’ll find” ~ Air Supply
Two of the most beautiful things are self confidence and compassion for others.
It's beautiful when a woman with a big scar on her chest can still wear revealing clothing, when a person with a facial scar still shows her/his face knowing people will stare and whisper, when a person not considered society's definition of beautiful will still have the courage to dress how she wants, when a person with gray hair embraces it instead of covering it just for what others may think, when a woman with no hair as a result of a medical/health condition doesn't feel the need to wear a wig or scarf just because other people will think something unpleasant, it's beautiful when we overlook all the trivialities and see beauty in places it's not considered to be, when we embrace each other in our love.
It's ok to conceal our imperfections for us if it's truly what we desire. A person who is confident may still just wish to cover or get rid of something undesirable to that person and that's ok. But it's not something we should feel the need to do because of what others may think.
Cosmetic surgery, hair dye, wigs, makeup, anti-aging creams, weight loss techniques…there's nothing wrong with it and it's not necessarily an indication that someone is insecure or lacks self love.
Some people just desire some changes. But I don't think it's something we should do out of fear or embarrassment for what society or others think. I think those things are best when done for our own selves because it's what we want based on our own desire, not the desire or demands or rules of someone else.
Even if we do not know a person or any living sentient being we come across, we know enough to love that being. We know that living, sentient being, just like us, is someone, someone with pleasure, joy, and pain, fear, hunger, someone with the need to avoid suffering and the desire for happiness or absence of suffering.
We can not tell jokes about people's physical appearance, we can choose not to be shallow and judge based on physical appearance, we can choose to see how we are all connected. We can choose to genuinely compliment someone when someone else slings insults. We can choose to seek what is good in each other and forgive the less than good.
I have much sympathy for the little girl who lost her family in a fire and I have so much sorrow for all the lives lost. Her daddy covered her with his body to save her life. He did not survive. The little girl does have a family, even if not the whole one she was born into, but she has people who love and care for her and now all the people around the world who encountered her story and love her. Family isn't just biological or legal.
Sa’fyre’s aunt says this about her:
“She’s a living message to people that there’s hope, and no matter what you can get through anything,” Dolder said. “That’s why we share Sa’fyre with everyone.”
What a gem this little girl is! ❤

This little darling girl inspires me so deeply! She is so happy and positive and adorable! She looks so cute in her little Christmas clothes! I’m so happy she chose to put her story out into the world and to show her beautiful face, to touch so many lives with her young life.
I am so thankful she survived.
I’m also so thankful she still has her sense of vision, that it wasn’t completely destroyed. And thankful for her beautiful smile. 😀
I’m so thankful to her family for bringing her into the world and for sharing her with us. ❤
I hope we will cherish the lives of all sentient beings and wish the best for everyone. By best I am referring to happiness and inner peace no matter the circumstances.
“When you look to the past for life’s long hidden meaning
For the dreams and the plans made in your youth
Does the thrill to achieve match the warm hidden feeling
That lies so still and lives in you”
The Eyes of a Child – Air Supply – mobile
Eyes of a Child – desktop
Beautiful song that brings chills!
Much love & light to you, always. ❤ ❤
xoxo Kim ❤