I just recently saw Lorde in concert at the Gila River Arena where she put on an unforgettable performance.
This article isn't about Lorde and the way her stage dancers are the icing on the cake of the show. It is about the people surrounding me who were there that night to listen to Ella sing her heart out to "Melodrama."
Instead of my typical Friday night spent alone in my dorm, I was with nearly 15,000 other people ranging from female pre-teens to male adults.
I primarily bought the tickets so my best friend could see her favorite female artist live, which led me to be more reserved than I usually am at concerts.
As my ears were focused on listening to Laurie speak about her excitement, my eyes were concentrated on the concert goers that surrounded me.
Being with my best friend, I couldn't help but look at all the other pairs of females who passed by and ponder if they are just like us.
By no means was I trying to see if they met in high school and because of music, they have formed an inseparable bond.
My brain was just trying to figure out if this concert was a night that everyone, including Laurie and I, was looking forward to for weeks so we could not only look but feel like we are worth a million dollars. Don't forget the tax!
I saw a young girl standing with her father in the merchandise line and pictured her, one week before the show, begging him to take her shopping for the outfit she wore that night which gave her all the confidence in the world.
The girl who sat a few rows down from me turned her head displaying shaded bright red lips with perfectly contoured cheeks and I couldn't help but imagine her happiness levels as she was handed a mirror to see how the makeup her best friend did had brought out her true beauty.
As I looked at the arena floor I spotted a mother and a daughter who both had curly blonde hair which made me think about how the mom might work a 9-5 job that forces her hair into a bun every day but tonight she got to style it so she feels young and gorgeous again.
The females who surrounded me were all so stunning that night which made my conscious run wild of these scenarios of women smiling proudly in their own skin before getting into the car and arriving at the same destination as me.
But every episode in my head of these strangers ended the same way. They would all wake up the next day with bare faces, natural hair, and clothes that although were much more comfortable, were way less cute.
No, this is not that part where I started to call them out in my head for being "catfishes."
The next part was actually the moment before I moved on to look at the other concert junkies around me.
Right before I stopped analyzing the person at hand, I would take a few seconds to talk to a god that I barely believe in and ask that the stranger who caught my eye, would wake up with a balanced love for their natural and unnatural self.
I believe that every single soul, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, should feel the way I felt last night all dolled up.
Beautiful, confident, courageous, joyful and content with who you are.
I know first hand that loving your natural self gets harder as you grow up because you become a target to the corporations that convince you to buy their products so you look as beautiful as the girl holding it.
But listen, the day you find your beauty being unbothered by the beauty industry, the random strangers on the streets, and even the people closest to you, you will have finally won.
You will no longer have to wake up dreading your day because you couldn't get ready, you will just wake up feeling beautiful. There won't be a need to compare yourself to anyone again because you know that someone else's beauty doesn't make you any less beautiful. You will have the world in the palm of your hand knowing that makeup or not, you are still just as confident.
Whether the next time you walk out of your house, you look like a half dead zombie or the next runway model for Victoria Secret, I want you to remember you are worth a million dollars every time. Don't forget the tax!
