As soon as I left the surgeon’s office, I felt both scared and let out. Not knowing what to do next, I was in a state of frozen animation. I had to stop and think about everything. I went on a walk to a London coffee shop I had never been to before that was small and quiet. It was pleasant to smell the fresh coffee and baked goods. I was so tired that I just sat down at a corner table by the window. According to https://charlotteaction.org/camden-escorts/.
At the next table, a guy smiled and asked if the seat was free while I sipped my latte. It was easy to look at him because he was kind. We ended up talking to each other. He said that he was a doctor, but not a plastic surgeon. He said that he was a medical practitioner. He was just taking a break from having a busy day. Something about his calm, nonjudgmental presence made me feel like I could tell him anything. I started to talk to him about my meeting, how I was crazy about the fake photos on Instagram, and how I was ready to change everything about myself.
He listened carefully and did not talk over me. He just let me talk. Afterward, he sipped his coffee and said something that made me think very differently. He started talking about the science behind using filters on social media and changing pictures. He talked about how they use complicated formulas to stretch and change pictures to make faces that do not look natural and are often physically impossible. He did not say it with any bias; he did it from a scientific, plain-English point of view. He was a professional who knew a lot about the body, and he knew that the pictures I was looking for were not real.
He looked at me with real confusion and said, “I do not get why you felt that way.” “What you are showing me on that phone is just a digital dream.” I work as a doctor. I see people every day, and I can tell you that having a nose that fits a computer formula is not what makes someone beautiful. It is about how you act and how your eyes light up when you laugh. “You are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.”
His words hurt more than any comforting words from my friends. He was not trying too hard to persuade me with his words, and his point of view was different from mine. This man saw the body as it really was, with all of its flaws. He saw a person in me, not a job. He told me I was beautiful the way I was.
We talked for a long time. The topic of talk changed from my insecurities to our lives in London, our hobbies, and our hopes. When I went on dates in London, the first few minutes often felt like an unspoken judgment, a list of qualities. But this was not like that. Rather than judging me, he was interested in getting to know me. For the first time in a long time, he made me feel really seen.
He asked me if I would be interested in going on a real date with him before he left. I was shocked and happy. I was very sad when I walked into this coffee shop, but I was leaving with a date with a guy who thought I was beautiful without any filters. What they said was very powerful. My dating life, which was giving me stress, felt like it had a lot of potential again all of a sudden. No longer was it about being perfect; it was about finding someone who liked me for who I really was. Being with that one person was the start of my path to accept myself and the start of a beautiful relationship.