Beauty in the World

"There is beauty in the world/So much beauty in the world/Always beauty in the world/So much beauty in the world/Shake your booty boys and girls for the beauty in the world/Pick your diamond pick your pearl there is beauty in the world" Beauty in the World - Macy Gray

"Dude. Are your toenails...painted??"

I get asked this frequently. For something that really doesn't matter? I get asked it too much. Fortunately for me, IDGAF when it comes to people's opinion(s) of me. That's none of my business. However, I love the reason I get my toenails painted, and I'm in a sharing mood. So here's a story. A heart melting story.  A story of a boy. A girl. And the boy's first pedicure:

I was in my early 20s when I got my first pedicure. I went with my roommate at the time, she was getting acrylics put on, and I figured "Why not?". So I had a seat. In the chair next to me, was a little girl, probably 5 or 6. She had Down's syndrome, and was getting a manicure with her mom. She looked over at me, said hi, then asked me what color I was going to do. I smiled and said "Well, I'm not getting a color." She shook her head at me and said "I think you should..." Guys. How could I say no? I looked back at her and said "Okay. Go pick a color, and I'll do it." So, naturally, she picked bright green. I, naively, thought that was the end of it. Little did I know, she was getting polka dots on her manicure. She looked over at me again, grinning. "Do you like my nails? What color are you going to have for your dots?" ...Crap. "Yes," I responded dutifully, "I DO like your nails. I hadn't planned on doing dots today." She got me again with those big eyes. "I think you should..." "And why is that?", I asked. "I think everyone should have beauty in their lives." Oh COME ON! You have to be a terrorist to not melt a little bit when a 5 year old girl says something like that to you! I relented. "Okay. Go pick out a color. I'll get polka dots." So, naturally, she picked purple. I had Barney toes for a little bit. Whatever, I rocked the crap out of them. After she and her mom were done, mom came up and said "She normally doesn't talk this much to people she doesn't know. Thank you for being so sweet." It definitely made my day.

Ever since that afternoon, I'm reminded of my young friend's wise words: Everyone should have beauty in their lives. So yeah, I paint my toenails. Because even on days that I can't see the beauty in the world, due to my being blinded by bad days, the general state of the world, whatever, I know that I've got painted toenails. And part of my world is beautiful for that.

 (Photo: my sister and I after our most recent pedicures)