The greatest thing about beauty is that it offers hope in a dysfunctional world. It gives the working man or woman a reason to be happy about their lives, to be glad at what they've accomplished, to aspire for more, and to live with a lasting sense of inner-peace and self worth.
A quick hour spent listening to the addictive evening news bulletin only tells you how alienating our world is. There are people dying in one of the most miserable and unlucky continents on this planet: people seeing their loved ones die, and who still have to fight for survival, and yet, the rest of the world can't offer its help thanks to a group of militants who are supposedly religious. I do not know how anyone can claim to be following a religion or even a primeval code while denying help to fellow human beings. A quick spin upwards shows a peaceful nation that has learned how much damage a single man with a gun can do. Another spin to the west, and we find a nation in which the politicians, who by definition are suffering from dissociation and a tinge of sardonic egomania, deciding on gambling with the livelihood of millions or probably billions of people around the world just to satisfy their schadenfreude and a burning desire to humiliate a man that they do not agree with. A last scroll to the eternally turbulent Middle East, and its a flashback to the fall of the soviet union, but it is more bloody. How can you point a tank's barrel at a condo that houses tens of families, press a button, and see it disappear in a few milliseconds without having any guilt about it? Do you know how long it took people to build it? to decorate their homes? to collect their memories in small gemstones and statues? Little tim who saved his entire allowance to buy a poster of his favorite superhero only to be disappointed by realizing that the superhero can't protect him against the appaling cults of self-worship. How can you do it so that you can stay in power? a power that you supposedly derive from the same people that you're killing, and whose houses you are destroying? How can you send your militias of terrorists to hurt innocent civilians whose only guilt is asking for their human dignity and their basic rights? That's all beyond my comprehension.
Dictators and terrorists lie without any guilt on TV, they murder people and do their best to destroy hope. Patriotism is shoved down our throats to keep us submissive and to make us accept what we're supposed to challenge, but waving a flag doesn't guarantee a better future. There's a reason hope was the last thing in Pandora's box. No matter how much adulation and worship some murderer gets, there's always the hope of justice, which, according to history, often manifests itself in an apparition of Ma'at or Themis.
In such an artificially miserable world, it almost feels as if all our work is ultimately ephemeral. There's beauty in what we create, in our relationships with our partners, or even in our dreams of those relationships. As ordinary citizens of the world, all we want to do is to create something remarkable and impart a part of our soul on it, to find an understanding partner, and to be able to have a cup of coffee late at night from your balcony in peace, but it seems that some people consider that too much to ask for.
We need to have pride in who we are; some glimpse of hope that asserts that we're unlike those selfish egomanical personalities who infest every government of this planet. That there are other human beings who are ethical, and who don't make headlines just for being the great people that they are. There's beauty about being human. We can look at skyscrapers with awe, or at bridges that encroach upon the domain of whales and defy the elements of nature, or at our footsteps on the moon. Those are all objects that represent the greatness of who we are, of what we can accomplish. Those are great reminders that we are just as good at building things as we are at destroying them. Most of us didn't actually contribute into the creation of those objects, but they're a symbol of the achievements of the human mind, a reminder of the value of our brains.
Nudes are also a magnificent form of beauty. They are about absolute human attributes; They aren't about the model or her body: A picture can only give you a tantalizing glimpse of a personality, and a perfect human form can be generated using simple 3D software. The form in those images is familiar, it resembles us, and it allows our minds to construct a personality around what our brains recognizes as beautiful human beings. We give them personalities, we give them the attributes that we truly value, we turn them into legendary superheroes, and then we start considering what we need to do to resemble that image, to be more like them, to be as beautiful, and to be more proud of who we are. We all have an image of who we want to be inside us, beauty comes dressed in that image to remind us of our long-forgotten dreams and aspirations.
It is a genuinely selfish value. It is a mirror of who we are, and at the same time it reminds us to make the most of our lives, to love ourselves, and to learn to wish ourselves better lives without feeling guilty about it. When it's a person of a different color in the image, or a disabled person, or someone who's different in any way, it teaches us to empathize.
In my humble opinion, that's the message of beauty that no censor can destroy, that no beauty-hater can sabotage with any amount of vitriol of destructive hypocritic self-righteousness. A person who looks in a mirror and sees the monsters that they have become will certainly do their best to destroy those mirrors.
There's so much to live for, and the world will remain beautiful as long as we believe in who we are and believe in our beauty.
Sexuality and beauty are always the most prominent victims of all totalitarian ideologies. It's a recurring theme in all dystopian novels, and almost all fundamentalist religions and the individuality-crushing collectivist cultures are obsessed with those two very human qualities, that's one of the ways with which they maintain their paranoid control over their followers, and to keep reducing them to the status of being 'followers'.
Those ideologies often have a matchmaking service, which basically takes away the choice and exaltation of finding the right partner for you. Reducing the glorious act of lovemaking into an act of replication. Keeping you bound and spinning in the mill of life, grinding your soul and individuality in the process.
Art is the way of getting back at those ideologies, it's how we break free of them. Art isn't confined to beautiful sculptures or wonderful paintings, just going through life while maintaining your individuality and making your own choices is an art. Finding, wooing, and earning the love of a beautiful woman is definitely an art. Because in order to earn that love, you need to make yourself worthy of her, and eventually know that you are worthy of her. As that's the only way that you're going to lead a happy life together.
The dangerous thing about a beautiful young woman like Jess being careless or not reinforcing or playing her part in disseminating the idea that sex is dirty is that she inspires you to be the best you can. She inspires you to respect those women who break the rigid rules of modesty and roles of submission. She makes you admire individuality and embrace sexuality and your own self. She gives you the recipe for being successful. She tells you to not be a part of any herd. She tells you that the real power lies within you and that individual rights are a religious shrine which should be zealously defended. She helps you regain your humanity and make it perfect.
This is why I like Jess, and this is why I respect BodyInMind.
Cowardice is the greatest enemy of one's ego. The only thing that may shatter your existence is a moment of surrender to fear. It has been used many times throughout history to rob people of their unalienable rights. I am not just referring to the Middle East and the state of paranoia many states are indulging in. I am referring to fears that are being capitalized by mere demagogues to rise to power. Bogeymen that spring up in every single country in the world to make the people bow down to those who perceive themselves to be divine shepherds.
In the United States, it's the immigrants, abortion clinic doctors, and homosexuals who are behind and indeed are the justification for the mistakes of years, if not decades, of mismanagement that are quickly making the US lose its lead. In Europe, it also is the immigrants and the rogue states which are overspending. In the Middle East it is fanaticism. Every nation has its leaders with their bogeymen ready in an eternal stand-by mode, the bogeymen may spring to existence overnight to force the world populations into blind submission or mindless sedation. To strip them of their humanity.
Hearing most world leaders treating groups of people who rose up to demand their freedom and basic rights - just as the Founding Fathers rose against tyranny - some of which are fighting (and dying) in what reminds me of the American War of Independence, according to their strategic importance, and not based on the fact that the declaration of independence and most of the values enshrined in most of our modern constitutions call for liberty and equality of all the human race, was an utter shock. Aren't we all human? Why is torture okay overseas, why did some nations even give those despotic nations the tools with which to torture their populations and stifle dissent, while turning a blind eye to their practices. Is oil worth that much? Is it worth the approvement of deaths, tortures, and sexual assault through shameful silence? I'd rather ride my bike than know that my next trip to the gas station may help some deranged maniac in some obscure country trample on the rights of its people in what truly resembles an Orwellian world.
It is fear that makes us betray who we are. Room 101 makes you betray yourself before you betray anyone else. A truly self-loving person would never tolerate such a deranged form of self-mutilation. The mutilation of the entire human race by the fact that peaceful people may die in the thousands just for daring to have a different opinion.
Did that happen because those alleged leaders are implementing similar measures in their home countries? Let's see: The Arizona law which sanctifies racial profiling and the abuse of different-looking people. The Wisconsin bill which is attempting to take away a fundamental right from minimum-wage civil servants. The outrageous body searches at airports, and of course random wiretapping. Basic rights that are being eroded in the name of security. It's no different in Berlusconi's Italy or Putin's Russia.
The answer to all of that is true innovation, is listening to our brains for once, it is realizing that what we do may have a negative impact somewhere else. Is letting the true message of beauty get to us. We are not that different, we all have the same basic rights, and we all need to strive to reach our full potential. This is the true message of beauty, a message that those wonderful ladies fully embody and represent.
I truly wish for world peace, and for the people of the world to live safely and happily. Without any artificial divides, and without those in power intentionally tearing them apart in their crack-like addiction to power.
The founding fathers were right, and now we're seeing young founding fathers recreating some glorious revolutions of that past. History is on their side, and hopefully, they will have a role in shaping their future. It's what they earn.
This reminds me of a cheap bumper sticker: the United States is the land of the free thanks to the brave. The world will always be free as long as we can muster our bravery and protect our rights.
"Are you sure you said 2 o'clock?" We sat waiting for our model to show up, in our rented studio, with our lights ready and our cameras set. The minutes ticked by. By the time the hands rounded past 3 pm, we knew we had a no-show on our hands. What were we going to do now? We had so much invested in this, what a shame it would be to let it go to waste. "I'll pose for you" said Cat, our dear friend and model who also acts as our assistant from time to time. "My hair is messy and I don't have any nice lingerie, and I'm not really ready for a nude shoot - but what the hell!" What the hell indeed. Cat is so gorgeous, so charming, and such an amazing model that the shots we got that day are some of the funniest we have of her. Her personality and wit shine through, even through her messy hair. As an impromptu model, Cat runs circles around even the most seasoned professional models. We thought you'd enjoy this bonus set of this lovely lady being her lovely self.
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That is what makes this set so charming. A beautiful lady is being who she is in front of the camera, no real preparations, nothing artificial. Just pure beauty mixed with the graceful independence of a self-confidant lady. A lady who values the truth enough to know that she's beautiful, and not be ashamed or apologetic about it.
Distilling this gallery was truly a hard task, you really gotta see the full set, it's only available for BodyInMind members.
I think that playfulness has its virtues. Here in this gallery. Laura is apparently just having a good time around the camera, her eyes are full of playful laughter. This has definitely affected her images, which strike me as being very dynamic, informal, and beautiful.
I think it all makes her look more beautiful. Models who enjoy their photo sessions often have the most striking and inspiring images that can be found anywhere. And Laura is no exception. Especially when the source of this gallery is BodyInMind.
I hope that you'll like it.
I personally think that honesty is the most important virtue about any person. Being honest means that you have enough respect and love for yourself to not lie about who you are, what your passions are, or what you love. It isn't always easy being honest, and we're fed so much hypocrisy growing up that sometimes lying about who we are becomes a second nature.
All those lies eventually make us hate who we are, they make us hate the beautiful things about life. They make us beauty-haters. I always feel confused when I see someone praising some imaginary values at the top of their lungs; I don't know whether to feel sorry for them or despise them for their lost souls.
It's very similar when I hear about a friend who discovers that his/her partner lied about some profound things about who they are. I always feel sorry for my friends and their lying partners, because I know that both of them wasted their time loving imaginary characters.
I think that those who feel how hurtful dishonesty is are those who have to be dishonest to avoid being harmed by others. Persecuted people sadly still exist in this world, and I think that the most painful thing about persecution is that you have to lie about who you really are.
I recently shared my fascination about nudes with a friend of mine that I care for. She accepted it, and I feel more secure now knowing that I am there as myself, not as an imaginary someone else who's slightly or grossly different.
I never lied about my passion for beauty. How can you be ashamed of admiring your values being embodied in a simple picture of a beautiful female, of reveling in the beauty of humanity?
Lying about our interests, our passion, or our love for ourselves turns us into mechanic monsters who don't have the ability to tell between who they really are and whom they pretend to be. It's far from being pleasant, it's outright dangerous.
I value honesty, I think that most people do, but as a young man who has been around in this world for a while, I am aware that it is despised by many, some don't even realize how much hatred they have for it before it stares them in the face.
Honesty includes being honest about one's values and qualities. honesty is being aware of your beauty and acknowledging it. Honesty is respecting your beauty and your intelligence enough to be able to inspect the beauty of others without feeling guilty about it or despising it. Without attaching a label of sex to it in order to make it sound less important.
Alece is a very beautiful woman, and that's a fact, at least it is for me. Do you find her beautiful? Do you think that she's 'just sexy'? Do you see your own values?
This is an essay titled "Coed Sleepovers" contributed by one of the site's visitors: David Hopkins. It's really worth a read as it raises up a very important question.
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Coed Sleepovers
We sleep to rest ourselves, to regain our energy to use for the next day. However, I do not understand why we always equate sleeping with sex.
I have two friends: Mike and Sarah. I have never had a sexual relationship with Sarah and I do not want to either. My father says that friends of the opposite gender do not even have sleepovers because their genders are different. If I were to have a sleepover with Mike, my Dad would feel fine. Nobody would see it as sexual activity or that we are homosexual.
However, if I asked to have a sleepover with Sarah, Dad would not let me and Sarah would refuse. Why? For the sole reason that she is a girl. It does seem rather sexist.
Besides, even if I did intend such a sleepover to be sexual, so what? Teens go on dates which they intend to practice their sexuality. Yet, other casual friends exist of the opposite gender. Casual friendship is about what friends are like by their character and interests, not about gender.
Every single night, I sleep to rest myself, and I do not want people to tell me that I would be engaged in sexual activity if only a female, any female were sleeping in the room. People fall asleep on planes and buses anyway.
Sure, sleeping with or near someone of the opposite sex can be sexual. I would feel aroused if it were someone on whom I felt sexual or had a relationship, but someone like Sarah? I could never feel aroused by someone by whom I did not feel sexual in the beginning.
Several years from now, I do hope to marry, and when we do, our bed will become the most sexual place we could possibly be. Probably, another part of the reason why we sleep is so that we can spend some intimate time alone with our partners.
If I were to have a sleepover with Sarah, we would not actively be participating in sexual activity. We would merely have a presence of each other. Who is to dictate that by day, most people of the opposite gender are merely people, but by night, every single one of them transforms into a sex object? Let's take into consideration gender equality.
In my opinion, forbidding coed sleeping is like the Berenstein Bears story, 'No Girls Allowed' in which the boys make a club just to shut Sister Bear and the other girls out. If the people involved in the sleepover, are not intimately bonded, sex segregation is unfair, and unnecessary.
Should all dormitories be coed then? I would say not. We must respect other peoples' opinion of how they would feel about people of the opposite gender of a dormitory.
Would such a slumber party automatically, inevitably, and uncontrollably transform into an orgy party? Casual friends of the opposite gender do many things together: eat, play, watch movies, talk, go out; so, why not sleep? We only see two people of the opposite gender sleeping with each other as only sexual because that is typically the context in which people of the opposite sex do it.
If coed sleeping were only sexual, homosexual people would never be able to have a nonsexual sleepover, or sleep in a dormitory without people of their sex arousing them or their arousing people of the opposite sex. Describing coed sleeping as solely sexual violates equality rights between genders, and compromises principles which encourage other people, especially between friends, to evaluate a person from his or her inside.
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A great essay by David Hopkins that he wrote in high school.
In a recent BodyInMind update, Dwayne wrote that:
"Many readers also extol virtues in our models we know are simply not there. That way they can lie that they love them for who they are and not just what they look like. BOTH of these readers need to learn to value beauty for beauty's sake, without guilt or excuse. Beauty is primarily a moral accomplishment: it is the representation of objective values; and unless an individual has learned to hold some rational values he will be incapable of perceiving beauty at all. For example, confidence is a very valuable quality, but if you don't admire it you won't notice it in a woman so you won't find her attractive."
When we portray a personality for a model it isn't about being humane about their nudity or a way of masking any unnecessary guilt that we have about nudes or our "consumerism". We have our own volition and our own conscience, those have created art, and art often bends reality to get a message across. When I paint a beautiful picture of humanity and embody it in a human being to add more beauty to a static medium, then I am simply giving my mind something that it deserves, meanwhile discovering my own values, knowing more about myself, and therefore becoming a better person, isn't this how beauty inspires people?
Many artistic pieces don't resemble reality at all, yet our minds fill in the missing pieces. Our appreciation of art and beauty is what makes it human.
I am not saying that attractiveness doesn't play a role, that would be hypocrisy. However, as I said, I can look elsewhere for more attractive girls, but I'm not for a simple reason. Only tasteful nudes that capture the model's beauty act as canvas, everything else is too basic for that. It's not about sexual responses or ejaculations, there's porn for that, some of which is perfectly ethical (with amazing models, like fuckingmachines.com, AbbyWinters, and X-Art). It's much more efficient at triggering those exact same symptoms
When I imagine that a model possesses all the qualities that I aspire, the things that I value about life, when I make her represent my own values, I am simply painting a beautiful picture for myself. It isn't about the model per se, it's about the picture. If we only cared about physical beauty then we would be more than happy seeing all those trash nudes found everywhere, in which the models are more physically attractive than most of BodyInMind models. What makes BodyInMind special is that it embraces values.
First of all, 99% of models use a fake name, so it's all a big fantasy, that actually benefits you as a person. The disappointment of real life is understandable, you can't compare a picture of a model or a fantasy to someone that you actually love in real life and embodies your values. Real-life people have different personalities, that's for sure. That's why we keep looking for the right partner, it's fulfilling being with someone that you are familiar with and who actually has some of your values.
The models here are symbols, regardless of what their real-life personalities are like.
As for the analogy, I disagree, you will still notice her confidence if you don't value it, it's a part of her personality. Only that it will then be labeled as arrogance.
Nikkala's Stott most remarkable feature has to be her eyes. They truly glisten whenever she smiles, again, filling whoever who's lucky enough to witness her smile with a sense of beauty and love for life.
This gallery is an innocent joke on the common request to see Nikkala Stott fully nude, which hasn't been fulfilled to date. What Nikkala really shows in this gallery, apart from her amazing self-confidence and goodness-dispersing beauty, is a very lucky stuffed toy. A beaver with the flag of Canada - the country of Dwayne, and the location where this was shot - on it. That lucky beaver is even up for sale on eBay right now.
I think that we're very lucky to witness such kindness and beauty. Whether full frontal nudity is an element or not. Beauty isn't about genitalia, it's about personality, and Nikkala has more than enough of that.
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