As I have mentioned, I am a dance teacher. Every year I encounter new (and old) students. Some you get to watch grow up, and others are already grown when they walk into the studio.

Ideally, you'd like to remember every single student you have forever, but that is pretty much impossible. However, there are definitely some who really make an impact on you. (Side note: if you work with kids, you make an impact on a lot more of them than you think)

There is one student I have become close with in the past year. I think of her as my mini-me because we are very similar. Unintentionally, the first thing I say about her when I talk about her is "I love her". She's in those teenage years. The really sucky ones that people tell you are "the best time of your life". In all honesty, every single day can be the best time of your life if you make it that way, so don't ever believe that once a certain chapter of your life ends that you are no longer in the "best time of your life".

My mini-me is a fabulous dancer. She's a great human being. She's so smart. Yet, she's in this constant struggle to be accepted by her peers. She is never her true self around her friends because she is afraid that they won't accept her anymore. She hides the unique parts of herself and does what she thinks the others will think is cool.

It's these unique parts of her that I love the most. Be different. Be yourself. You are you not anyone else. And you are pretty freaking awesome.

Her struggle with peer acceptance has led her to struggle with self-acceptance. But she is so great. One of the greatest things about her is her work ethic. She never gives up. She never stops trying. She works and works until she is perfect. Admirable. I admire her.

Why do we live in a society where it is so easy to find our faults and so difficult to find the positives. I challenge you find one positive thing about yourself every single day. If your immediate reaction to this challenge isn't "YES!" then at least answer this: why don't you want to think the positive things about yourself? What bad things can come from thinking of something positive about yourself?!

Don't make it too hard, friends. Today, my positive thing is that I have one random blonde eyelash. The rest are black. It's strange. But ya know what, it's also pretty cool. And I'm glad I have one blonde eyelash. I'm always up for a little bit of variety.

So I want you to find your blonde eyelash of the day. Feel free to share by commenting below, tweeting me, or sending an email.

Spread the word. And spread the beauty.

Shannon

Each of us has so much beauty inside of us just because we think of others.

This morning I taught a class of three-year-olds. They're always precious, but today was special. One little girl that I know fairly well marched right on up to me and handed me a dandelion. "Here you go, Miss Shannon. I want to give this to you." I told her it was beautiful. And it is beautiful.

The dandelion in question, pictured above, is not only a beautiful creation, but it is beautiful because my little dancer gave it to me. She wanted to me to know that she was thinking of me. That I am important enough to her to warrant a gift. And not just any gift, but a very pretty flower that she hand-picked.

After I thanked her for the flower, she ran back to her mother and returned with a clear cup. Inside the cup was a dead grasshopper. My little dancer had named it Aurora, after her (and mine!) most favorite princess. She explained to me how when they walked to their car to drive to dance class the dead grasshopper was on their windshield. This little dancer thought the grasshopper was really pretty, which is why she named it Aurora.

And here is yet another reason I love kids. They see the beauty in more things than we do as adults. What adult takes the time to preserve a grasshopper and show it to the people around them? Look at this little guy who was once alive and enjoying life. Let's not forget about him. He is important too. Adults rarely do this sort of thing. But kids do. They care about everyone and everything. Even the dead grasshopper on their windshield.

I challenge you to acknowledge the beauty in something you don't normally notice. The way the grain in the wood is just a certain way, or the way the grass blows slightly just before a storm. Find something beautiful and out of the ordinary.

I want to hear about your stories of beauty. Comment, email, or tweet me your story or picture of something beautiful.

In the meantime, spread the word and spread the beauty.

Shannon

As a dance teacher, I spend most of my time looking at beautiful people. Beautiful children. Beautiful teachers. Beautiful parents. As a dance teacher, I spend a lot of my time looking at these beautiful people look at themselves in the mirror.

As a dancer, mirrors are often your worst enemy. The purpose of the mirror in the studio is so you can see your own faults. Your lack of turnout, your weak arm, your bent knees. But when I look at these dancers, I see great, intelligent kids, who work hard. And I want them to see it too.

The youngest group of kids I work with are three years old. They're three! They all think: "I am so wonderful!" all the time, right? Wrong. Every year we squat down to measure these little ones, who are barely past being a baby, for their bedazzled costumes. Step one: measure their bust. They giggle when you put the tape measure under their armpits. Step two: measure their waist. They suck in. Three year olds already have this reaction to suck in their tummy to look smaller. It makes my heart hurt to see these little ones think they there is something about them that could be more beautiful.

And that is why this site and Twitter page (http://www.twitter.com/seethebeauty3) are all about being beautiful in your own way. I intend to write about, and post some pictures, of why I think those around me are beautiful, why I am beautiful, and why you should think you are beautiful. Please spread the word! And please spread beauty.

Shannon