"Beautify what is Already Beautiful"- International Women's Day

"This photo was taken in the sacred Cecelia Forest in Cape Town by Nadegé Sanz. With it I want to honour and celebrate the pure beauty of every woman and girl on this International Woman's day. I celebrate your sacred body, I kiss your every curve and fold, wrinkle and stretch mark, every ripple of fat. I encourage you to honour yourself too, even when others don't, to free your own spirit, to respect your own body, to treat it with love and awe. You are a warrior, you are an artist, you are a healer, you deserve your own love first, without the approval of others. Shine your brilliant light from inside, dance wildly, swim naked, walk bare foot. At a time that we are so judged, so misused, so misunderstood, so labelled, so hated, so violated, may we make our own selves whole and complete again, as we entered this world...no make up, no cloth to smother, cover or beautify what is already beautiful. We require no one's permission to do this. Only our own. Our own love."  words by Ernestine Deane   http://ernestinedeane.com/