The Quiet Beauty of Becoming Bella

"I heard that Bella may be scheduling to have headshots done with you soon! I’m excited for you both, I think you will love each other!! She has been one of my close friends for years," Joyanna told me.

There is an interesting phenomenon within the human race, it's called 'Reputational Spillover.' This is where your reputation is slightly colored by the actions and reputation of another person.

You'll remember Joyanna. She's wonderful in every sense of the word.

When she sent me this message about Bella I knew something special was on the horizon. Joyanna's shining reputation allowed Bella and I to connect more quickly and know, that because of our friendships with Joyanna, we would be able to trust and create with one another in all the most important ways.

This is a long way of saying who you hang around with matters.

But even if I hadn't heard from Joyanna, even if Bella had been a complete stranger with no connection, I would have seen what an extraordinary woman she is. You would have to be blind not to.

But Bella's goodness and kind nature was hard won.

"I've struggled with insecurity," she told me when we first me. "I had some not so good friends growing up. It started when I was very young."

Bella's unsavory associates from her past left a mark.

"It was very difficult," Kathy, Bella's mother, said. "It really shaped how she sees herself. But it's gotten better."

I won't go into detail of how terrible these children and then teenagers were to Bella and one another. It's enough that you know, and mothers who have watched their children face difficulties with their peers will understand, things were difficult, painful, and they left a mark.

But much like how a bit of grit in the shell of an oyster makes a beautiful pearl, Bella's past has helped shape her. And dear reader, Bella is magnificent.

It's as if every difficult thing she faced has been inverted and instead of weighing her down with darkness, she is filled with light. Bella is vibrant. Her glowing personality may be seen as quiet but her eagerness to learn and grow and share and experience is contagious.

Bella and her mother would both say so much healing has happened because of the truly good friends Bella has found (lookin' at you Joyanna and Graci).

Then we have Bella's next love; the stage. Behind the curtain and under the lights is Bella's second home.

"I was very young when I was in my first play," Bella told me as sorted through dresses in my studio. "My parents were in a local production for Les Misérables. I was in the ensemble. It was such an incredible production, one of the best we've ever done."

And it's thanks to Bella's parents, especially her remarkable mother Catherine, that Bella now finds her career and continued education in the glowing lights of the theater world.

She is studying the arts, specifically theatrical set and scenic design. Bella is the one who makes the theater stage make sense, look interesting, and function.

"You have control over world you're building with and around the actors and story," Bella said, her eyes lighting up as she talked about creating in on Broadway in New York City.

To say Bella loves what she does is an understatement. She glows, smiles, and moves with a confidant joy as she talks about this evolving passion. Everything from lighting to painting, to hand crafted work to autocad, Bella welcomes it.

To her, it all has a purpose. And as she continues to understand and expand her knowledge she finds herself wanting to share it.

"I would love to teach this," she said with a smile. "That's all I want to do."

It's important to note, she said this when I pitched her the idea of doing a simple workshop with a gaggle of homeschool kids. And she was excited . . . what girl!

The heart of Bella is preciously pure and good. She feels things deeply and instead of letting that rule her, it now motivates her to be purposeful and deliberate with what she does.

She is driven and quietly adventurous.

She's elegant and completely lacking the brash chaos the world champions in women her age.

And Joyanna was right, though I can only speak for myself, I do adore Bella.

Not because she has good friends like Joyanna and Grace, though that opened a door.

And not because her mother might be an actual saint.

But because, on her own, Bella is living a life of quiety beauty. Her humility and calm nature bless every interaction with carefully chosen words and clear standards.

Bella is notable.

She's unforgettable and purely unique in every aspect of her existence.

She has changed me.

And if you get a chance to know her, Bella will change you too.

Love,

Melinda

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