Strength. I now realize that is exactly what I saw in the video I shot of my friend. When I showed that video to two friends they were both struck, as I was, by her story. This was not a happy story, but my friends did not just see the pain and suffering, they also saw something else. They saw how warm and engaging my friend was, how she was able to laugh at something that for many would always be devastating. Neither of them had more than a general impression of her age, hair colour, or weight. What they saw was her strength. And that strength was beautiful.
Funny what we see in ourselves and in others.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said that as we grow old the beauty steals inwards. Shelley sees that beauty and through her, we see it too.
Gladys is beautiful. Her friends are beautiful. Robert, Rosie, Wendy, and Ophelia are beautiful. My friend is beautiful.
And that beauty, I suspect, is what people take away from Shelley’s work.
To see more of Shelley’s work please visit her website.
Article Copyright © JD Cottier except as noted above
Featured image is a close up of Sun, shown above