Last year, I met a woman on a plane.
This year, that woman has a book, The Beauty of Different, that has been published.
I’m not known for being without words — I was once, as a child, told that we were given only so many words in a lifetime and I was quickly running out of them — (I think my parents were tired of my incessant ceaseless chatter) That might be the first and one of a handful of times that I’ve been speechless.
I am compelled to tell y’all; Karen’s book, left me speechless.
Karen’s book is powerful, beautiful, moving, breathtaking — so many things.
Here’s what y’all need to know, Karen’s book, is Karen.
When you meet Karen, she grasps your hand in both of hers and looks at you, not only does she look at you, she sees you, if you’ve ever met her — you know exactly how powerful and special her greeting is. You know without a doubt that she is seeing you and that she is taking note of you and she will remember you.
To be around Karen is a gift. Her laughter is contagious, she lives life, she gets that it is a gift, every feeling, she cherishes it, she exudes energy and when she feels something, you see it.
This is Karen learning about a strange Gelatin Dish at last year’s Mom 2 summit.
Her face brings me joy.
Karen loves. Karen feels. Karen lives.
To be around Karen while she’s photographing others is a blessing and a gift.
Karen’s gift is showing others how they are beautiful.
When Karen spends time looking at you, focusing on you, when she takes your photograph — it does something to you. It moves you.
I have been photographed by her, so I say this with first hand knowledge.
I have also been witness to her photographing others and there’s a magic that happens when she focuses her camera on you.
In her book
Karen share stories and pictures of people who’ve impacted her personally.
Her book is a statement.
It’s a challenge.
It’s a gift.
When Karen’s book showed up at my doorstep, it took me 3 days to open it. I wanted the right time, the right place, the right moment.
I’ve met her. I’ve seen her in action. I’ve followed her work.
I wanted to give this work of art, it’s due.
I am so happy that I did this.
This book deserves attention, YOU deserve to give this book the full attention that it deserves.
This book will impact you. You cannot see, touch, feel, read, experience this book without wanting to change the way that you view yourself and the world around you.
I found myself stroking the pages, the pictures are so full of life and texture and depth
I want to carry this book with me and share it with everyone I come across.
I want to give it to every woman that I’ve ever known, we should all be so blessed as to be seen through Karen’s eyes. We should all strive to see ourselves and our world, through Karen’s eyes.
Karen’s book is available for order now
If you live in Houston, her book signing is tomorrow, Dec 2nd
If you’re near San Antonio, she’s going to be at:
- What makes you beautiful? (this is your entry)
Tell me and on Friday, December 3rd at 10:00 PM CST I’ll use Comment Contest to choose the winner of this priceless gift.
This giveaway is over. Congratulations to our winner, Paula
my family. they make me everything i am and i love them for it.
Wow what a tough question. I think what makes me beautiful is my strength as a mom. I doubt myself as a single mom everyday but then people meet my kids and I get the ultimate compliment. “Wow your kids are great”. Im just ME!
My love for my parents. They drive me crazy with their non-stop questions, their refusal to buy hearing aids, and their never ending leftovers. However they are mine to honor and cherish. And I love them all the more for the values they’ve instilled in me.
Wow, Rachel – what a beautiful post – I really want to read this book! I guess what makes me beautiful is my sense of humor 😀
When I smile at you, full on, teeth smile: I mean it from my heart. I think that’s pretty beautiful.
Oh wow Rach! So nice to see myself here.
Just ordered my book and cannot wait to see it. I am so excited 🙂
And I have to agree with every single thing you say about Karen. I will never forget the way she made me laugh out with joy when she took my pictures – such an awesome experience! And then, I met YOU there 🙂
What makes me beautiful? I am beautiful because I have a sense of hospitality that draws me towards welcoming with open arms anyone and everyone I meet. And if I have a chance to feed them, then that is even better!
Thanks for the chance to win what looks like a really awe-inspiring book!!
God bless!
My camera? It lets what I see inside come out.
The book sounds awesome!
What makes me beautiful? Definitely a hard question but I think my eyes.
Oops…didn’t finish the thought! I think my eyes because I can see the details that others sometimes overlook. Also, God’s love. Oh where would I be without His love?
What a lovely post!
Beautiful… um? I think I am most beautiful with a lapful of boys and our nose in a book. 🙂
I loveme some photography, my curiousity is piqued.
So glad you posted this. I am going to go see her in Houston if I can. So cool.
The fact that try as I might to conform and be like everyone else, I have to be me to be happy. And that means being crazy, being wistful, being in awe of dreams, and most of the time, not being on the same plane as everyone else. It means often feeling out of place, but finding my place in my writing and in my blog. What makes me beautiful? Just being alive, I suppose.
My gentleness.
Dang it! Why am I not in Texas right now? That dragonfly shot looks amazing, even through the internet 🙂
What makes me beautiful…the fact that I love who am I as a person and have fully come to terms with myself. I’m comfortable in my own skin and I’m real about who/what I am. No beating around the bush or sugar coating most of the time — my face gives away far more of my thoughts for me to hide anything.
Of course I have self-conscious moments, but for the most part, I just enjoy life for what it is, and try to cherish every day with my amazing little girl and wonderful husband…and look forward to the time when we can spend even more time together!
Thanks for the beautiful giveaway 😉
You are such a good friend, and the book looks breathtaking- I am a big fan of Karen’s. As for what makes me beautiful? I suppose the way my kids look at me. I’m much better through their eyes.
Not an easy question but I would have to say my love for my family and friends.
I am such a fan of Karen and her work 🙂
What makes me beautiful? My laugh, I think. I have a friend who is a comedian and he says that he loves having me in the audience because my laugh is so contagious..
I think that my smile makes me beautiful. I consider gifting people with smiles as my personal crusade and I practice a lot!
Thanks for this beautiful post.
My stubbornness makes me different. Well not so different, the kids all got the same streak a mile wide.
I’m sure the positive spin on the word would be determination and perseverance. I just don’t always use it in a positive manner. 😉
Also, I have those ornaments.
I am beautiful because I can laugh at myself.
My empathy makes me beautiful…though sometimes it’s a bit of a pain.
thank you for this post, it is so heartfelt it gives me the goosebumps! and the strongest desire to have my copy of the beauty of different very soon!
thank you so much for a chance to participate in this giveaway!
my capability to love makes me beautiful
My heart makes me beautiful. Thank you for asking.
My energy and curiosity. My toes. My neck and shoulder line
Friends like you make me beautiful.
We were wrong (thankfully) you haven’t run out of words yet…but you have invented a few new ones. By the way, I’m not quite sure …… did you like the book or not, hard to tell ;-}
What makes me beautiful? Probably the smile on my face when I’m in my kitchen creating something special for the people I love. There’s joy there.
My ability to vulnerable and finally, FINALLY! I am comfortable with that.
I try to give an appreciation of beauty to each of my girlies everyday, while retaining most for myself. My own beauty will serve them well as they grow and evolve.
I think physically my eyes are beautiful, inside I think my beauty comes from the love I have for those around me, I will go to the ends of the earth for my family and friends, and if you need help, you can be sure I’ll be there.
I am emotional and I think that makes me beautiful. I used to see this as a curse but now I am finally able to recognise it as the gift it really is.
Thank you for the wonderful giveaway! Even if I don’t win, this book will be on my coffee table one day.
my eyes and my laugh.
My skin–I have really good skin!
When I was younger, my dad said my imperfect teeth made my eyes all the prettier.
My drive.
I believe love makes me beautiful. The love of others that sustains me, the love I have for others that shines through me, the love the Lord that makes life possible.
YOU are beautiful in your honesty, your graciousness, your smile and laugh, in the way you love and cherish your family and in the way you are loyal and caring to your friends. (I know I didn’t have to answer that question, but I wanted to!)
I have pretty eyes.
Discussing something that I’m passionate about makes me beautiful. Nothing lights you up inside more. 🙂
This POST was clearly something you’re passionate about, and it is fabulous. Getting myself over to Amazon now. 🙂
My scraggly hair.
My smile – my REAL smile, not the one I use for pictures.
My big heart.
lovely, lovely post. karen truly is an exceptional woman and oh so worthy of every terrific thing you said.
what makes me beautiful is my optimistic outlook and my ability to build people up while not feeling inferior or jealous.
My ability to bring people together to celebrate others achievements is something that makes me beautiful! Whether it’s big or small, I like giving people the opportunity to gather in support of their friends or the chance to make new friends.
They say that the eyes are the gateway to your soul. I’ve been told I have beautiful eyes. I get them from my Grandmother. She was a beautiful soul. I would love to read this book.
My laugh..even though it’s a really loud guffaw sometimes
My love of animals. At least to them I am beautiful – even on a bad hair day :>}
I can’t wait to see this book! She sounds like a person I would just adore from the first moment I met her.
What makes me beautiful is the way my husband still looks at me like I’m still the most smokin’ hot woman in any room. THanks for the chance to win a copy of Karen’s book. Hoping to meet her here in SA!
I am beautiful when I am in the moment.
My laugh makes me beautiful full and rich.
Rec’d my purchased copy yesterday. Just here to say glad you’ve written about my all time fave blogger here and are reviewing this book for your readers. She’s the real deal.
I am a fan of my dimples and freckles. i think they make me beautiful 🙂
My husband would say to tell you my eyes make me beautiful. I think it’s my big mouth. I have a big mouth. Lol! I laugh loud. I think that’s what makes me beautiful – my big laugh?
Sounds like an amazing book. I would say my thoughtfulness towards others & the asymmetry of my smile.
OH YAY!! The book signing tomorrow is like one mile from my house!
*thanks for the heads-up, mama*
You totally captivated me with your description of Karen. Can’t wait to read her book. I believe that everyone is beautiful …. all individual with different attributes. I think that what makes me beautiful is not a physical trait, but the way that I am able to accept everyone I meet no matter what their background, culture or views ; )
Thank you for introducing me to this book and to it’s author Karen. I shall have to watch out for it in our local bookstores.
You sold me on this book, I want to meet Karen. I’d say my imperfect smile makes me beautiful!
Wow, you sold me on this book. It is on my list of books I want to read! What makes me beautiful? I believe it is my smile. Everyone always says that I’m always smiling, even when things are not going great. I guess I just have a way of letting things “roll off my shoulders” and it shines through in a smile.
I think my devotion to my family makes me beautiful:)
My nose makes me beautiful. It’s large, dominates my face, and I have learned to love it. I think it makes me striking.
My kindness and generosity makes me beautiful
If I don’t win this book I am soooo buying it!!!
What I love about me is my ability to try to find the good in people even at the cost of hurting others by pushing them to see it too..
Perhaps my baby blues that sparkle when I’m in love.
My smile makes me beautiful. I have perfect lips and white, white teeth. Wow! I’ve never told anyone that before. Thanks for the chance. It feels kind of great.
Hmmmm. If you would have asked me ten, even five, years ago…I could have answered fairly easily. But after some serious weight gain after being on a medication…I can’t seem to look in the mirror and even see myself there anymore, at least not an attractive self. So I guess if you mean physically, I’d have to go with my eyes…they are very blue, and have managed to escape getting bigger. 🙂
Speaking of my eyes…your description of this book, and this amazing woman, brought tears to them.
My kids make me feel beautiful!
My freckles, the ones on my lips.
What makes me beautiful is that 75% of the time I love myself. I love my legs, and I love my bottom and I’m ok with the jiggly middle because I’m never gonna be stick thin, because I love food too much to starve myself, because I’m a mommy to two beautiful children and because my husband has always found me sexy!
It looks like an amazing book! I’d love to win.
I think what makes me beautiful is my yellowish-green eyes.
Don’t we all, as women especially, struggle with this idea? For me I would have to say that it’s not any one of my features (green green eyes, flawless complexion) but the way I look when I’m smiling or laughing. I forgot how to do that for a while but I’m finding my way back to what makes me beautiful and it truly manifests from inside to out.
My eyes when I am looking at my family.
It is my smile that makes me beautiful, it connects me to people in ways that words don’t always do. 🙂
I love to keep in touch with my friends and family. I try to be as encouraging as I can. This is what makes me beautiful.
Very hard question to answer. I’ll go with the physical aspect and say my smile. My real light up the eyes smile 🙂
This book looks great. My freckles make me beautiful, I have them everywhere.
I adore photographers who can tease out the beauty in all kinds of faces. Karen does that, so does Casey (Mooshinindy). The book looks amazing. I think my smile makes me beautiful, especially when it’s brought on by something silly my kids did or by the kindness of a friend.
That’s a hard question, but I know I look much more beautiful when I smile.
Laughter makes me beautiful. I love to tell stories, to make others laugh because of them, in spite of them. And, I love to laugh along with them.
My laugh, your laugh…it’s what makes me beautiful.
Such a hard question. I think that what makes me beautiful is my nurturing spirit. Holding my kids close and making sure they know how beautiful, perfect, smart and wonderful they are…in hopes that they never doubt it like I do.
I am beautiful because I care for people!
Wow Rachel, make us dig deep. I believe Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, therefore, what I think makes me beautiful is the ability to be me, most of the time I am really comfortable in my skin and who I am and where I am going – to me that is beauty.
I sure love your writings and the thoughtfulness you put into your messages. Loves you much!
Happy Holidays Rachel and sweet family.
This book truly looks wonderful.
My heart. That was my knee-jerk response. I love whole heartedly, I am loyal, I give my emotions easily. Sometimes it makes things hard, but mostly it fills my life with beauty.
i think my beauty comes from something deeper. i hope others see it in my words and actions–my intention everyday to be kind and true. i hope to have this book in my hands soon. 🙂
My inner strength is probably what makes me beautiful.
My pale skin makes me beautiful. I hated it growing up and wanted so badly to be tan, but it’s just not in my English genes! It took my husband absolutely loving my pale skin to make me love it, too.
My smile. It’s big, it’s genuine and I use it all the time.
the way I wear my heart on my sleeve…
I am beautiful because I have two very prominent scars on my face. One on my chin and one that splits my right eyebrow. Each has a very important story behind them and those stories have shaped who I am. They remind me every day that I feel and live a certain way because of the experiences that led me to have these scars. I am stronger for them.
I am beautiful because of my scars, not despite them.
God loving me unconditionally and filling all those holes in my heart that no one else knows is there: that makes me beautiful; the love my children have for me and the way they make me laugh with joy, that makes me beautiful; the look in my husband’s eyes when he looks way deep in my soul and says he won’t ever leave me…that makes me beautiful 🙂
My determination makes me beautiful.
I think my quirkiness makes me beautiful.
Thanks for the lovely giveaway.
My humility makes me beautiful.