Dear female friends: Many of us struggle on a daily basis to feel as if we are beautiful. And why is that? Because we have been conditioned to believe physical beauty is the most valuable thing we can have. CONT.

We are bombarded daily with images of women who have perfectly symmetrical features, incredible hair, and bodies with all the "right" proportions. And we see how these women are treated, admired, elevated. It's natural to elevate things of beauty, so that makes sense. However...

You are not a thing. You are a unique human being.There never has been nor will there ever be another person like you. That in and of itself makes you insanely beautiful. This inherent beauty cannot be shaken and will not fade like physical beauty can. And...

While age and circumstance can strip outward appearances of their attractiveness, those very same things can cause inner beauty to become richer and even more powerful. Kindness, graciousness, confidence, self-acceptance, assuredness, empathy, compassion, and patience...

Cannot be bought in a store, pitched to you on television, become irrelevant, or need to be replaced by the next best "treatment". And although those qualities may not seem to show up in a photograph, trust me...they do. Confidence and genuine happiness always show...

I'm speaking from the experience of 20+ years of photography. Trust me when I tell you the most beautiful among us are the ones who truly own themselves then turn and pour all that inner beauty out on those around them. Okay, sermon over. Love you all so much!