In a world where too much ugliness happens every day–much of it on the internet for millions of eyes to see–let’s take a moment and celebrate how one young woman has transformed a moment of ugliness into one of beauty.
It all started when this photo, taken without the subject’s knowledge, was posted on a website that invited mocking and cruel comments.
Then this happened:
“Hey, guys. This is Balpreet Kaur, the girl from the picture. I actually didn’t know about this until one of my friends told on facebook. If the OP wanted a picture, they could have just asked and I could have smiled 🙂 However, I’m not embarrased or even humiliated by the attention [negative and positve] that this picture is getting because, it’s who I am. Yes, I’m a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair. Yes, I realize that my gender is often confused and I look different than most women. However, baptized Sikhs believe in the sacredness of this body – it is a gift that has been given to us by the Divine Being [which is genderless, actually] and, must keep it intact as a submission to the divine will. Just as a child doesn’t reject the gift of his/her parents, Sikhs do not reject the body that has been given to us. By crying ‘mine, mine’ and changing this body-tool, we are essentially living in ego and creating a seperateness between ourselves and the divinity within us. By transcending societal views of beauty, I believe that I can focus more on my actions. My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognize that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can. So, to me, my face isn’t important but the smile and the happiness that lie behind the face are. 🙂 So, if anyone sees me at OSU, please come up and say hello. I appreciate all of the comments here, both positive and less positive because I’ve gotten a better understanding of myself and others from this. Also, the yoga pants are quite comfortable and the Better Together tshirt is actually from Interfaith Youth Core, an organization that focuses on storytelling and engagement between different faiths. 🙂 I hope this explains everything a bit more, and I apologize for causing such confusion and uttering anything that hurt anyone.”
I’ll admit, I cried while reading this. This woman’s faith has given her a means of valuing her body in all the right ways and a resilience that I long for and strive for. Thank you, Balpreet Kaur, for enriching my life this week, and spreading beauty in our world, even on the internet.
For more information about this story, read one of these articles:
the beautiful changes... 
A beautiful lovely soul which in turn makes her a gorgeous confident young woman. Everyone should take heed and I’m sure can only wish they had a fraction of her outlook on life. She has every right to be extremely proud of herself. Respect and admiration.
Reblogged this on The Theological Wanderings of a Street Pastor.
As a Christian for some years now, I can honestly say that, perhaps only a handful of times have I witnessed such profound humility and beauty of character as this woman exemplifies among my own faith kin. Kyrie eleison…
Reblogged this on katyandtheword and commented:
Embracing God and self identity, that’s what is about folks!