by Julia Morgan
Having just purchased my weight in bananas/mangos, I was walking back from the local farmer's market when I heard a voice from across the street, "Hola rubia! Eres linda! La más en todo el mundo!" aka "Hello blonde girl! You're the most beautiful girl in the world!"
This very generous compliment came from a muchacho and his amigo, both about my age, as they crossed my path going the opposite direction. I smiled and giggled out a "Gracias!" in return.
Girls (especially blonde-haired gringas) wandering around in Chile get countless whistles and looks and comments as it is, but for some reason, this instance really made my day.
I thought of a point made in a blog post that showed up in my Tumblr feed recently:
"...we also forget just how much of an impact words can have. It reminds me of the power of speaking love and encouragement. Many times, I go about my day not vocalizing the thoughts in my head, thinking praise of someone but never actually telling them so they can hear how much value they have."
I'm not saying that we should become insanely egotistical or flirt with everyone in sight, but what if we actually started believing the things that are true about ourselves? And what if we weren't so reluctant to outwardly speak the things that are true about others?
"I can see a lot of life in you."
Though seemingly a bit too forward at times, I think Chilean dudes are on the right path. Maybe there's a happy medium. And maybe we can all start speaking, truly speaking, life and love and truth and peace and hope and happiness and encouragement again.
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