The Virtual Reality of Perfection

As the semester marches onward, I find myself surrounded by a different group of people. Though it's only been about a month since we came back to the wonderful university known as Texas State, there are noticable changes that have occurred in my own life. Now that I've become more comfortable with my surroundings, I've reverted to being the somewhat outgoing person that I used to be before I 'exiled' myself to the wide, wild land of Texas. I've also rekindled my country music fetish from fourth grade, but that's a completely different subject. I've become quite content in a place in which I expected to become severely depressed. Much like Paul (the apostle), I've found myself able to be satisfied in every situation I find myself in; this is probably one of the best qualities a person can have, assuming they do not deliberately change their own sense of self in the process. Being ingenuine makes the situation almost as fake as you make yourself because you're not actually acting or responding as you would in another setting. Imagine wearing a mask (or many masks) your entire life and not letting anyone see your real face.
If I were one of the people who had seen the mask for a long time and suddenly it was removed, these emotions would follow: surprise, confusion, anger, and intoleration. The person who had been hiding behind masks their whole life may have been interesting than any facades they had created for themself, but I cannot deny that I would be disgusted at the fact that they had to hide behind something fake in order to protect themselves from some absurd reason. I think this is part of my aversion to makeup, hairdye, and the like; those things create a different image of who you are. Though they may be used to "express oneself", I often find that they're used more as protection from others' judgments. I understand the joy that comes with experimenting with colors and accentuating certain facial features, but there is something much more beautiful about a person who is unafraid of who they are, flaws and all.
A recent aquaintence of mine, who I'm sure most people would find gorgeous, is also by far one of the least natural girls I've ever seen. Dark tan skin, light brown hair with blonde highlights, greenish eyes, a wonderful smile, and a great body, this girl could almost be mistaken for a lifesize doll (aside from the fact that she's about 5'2" and I'm about 5'6"); the only thing that bothers me is how fake the tan is, how obvious the highlights are, and how unusually perky is most of the time. I'd say this girl is afraid of who she really is underneath all the sparkly eyeshadow, foundation, lip gloss, tan, and hair dye. These people always carry themselves as confident individuals, but I cannot help wondering whether they have more problems than someone who works with what God gave them. After all, didn't he give us "more than enough"? Why, then, would we need to hide the image he originally created for us? This whole need to look like the next 'perfect' person is just wrong. There is no perfect individual on earth; even Barbie dolls aren't perfect. Jesus was perfect though, which is absolutely amazing to consider. Every move he made, everything he said, everything he wore, everything he ate contributed to his perfection. Now there's a rolemodel.
Trying to keep it real,
Anna