Beauty is fleeting. If you're lucky enough to have one genuine moment in your life where you realize you're beautiful, you must recognize that moment, hold on to it for as long as you can, and when it passes, which it inevitably will, you must let it go. And you must let that be enough for the rest of your life. You must let that be enough. Because if you can't, it will eat you alive and hollow you out and you will know only ugliness until the end of your days.
First draft: 150413
Published: 231105