I met a unicorn today.
She was everything I imagined.
I greeted her from the waiting room and her smile dazzled me with tintless opals. 
Poised with grace she waltzed past me flowing ever so gracefully to my dental hygiene chair. I quickly composed myself, not wanting my awestruck demeanor to show.
When she opened her mouth to speak, beautiful cadences emanated from her voice bounding off the walls of our little six by eight feet of space.
As she cozied into the chair, her flawless dewy complexion with a golden hue glowed in my direction.
Every part of her appearance dripped of sensual beauty—even though she was casually in mere jeans and a modestly cropped top shirt.
I could tell this was her “off” day—she was used to being dolled up in ways that went even further beyond her natural beauty—yet even on her off day, her beauty captivated me with slight envy.
We started with small talk. I could tell she was politely guarded with her responses. Perhaps she was trained to be so? She shared just enough to show that she was tame and helplessly inviting.
Eventually through an extension of my own authenticity, and perhaps she saw my own niaveness (at the time), not knowing how far this rare beauty’s appearance reached in all parts of this world, she began to bring her guard down a few notches and I slowly discovered hints of the rawness that lay underneath her shell.
This rawness that hid within left me somber and troubled for her.
There seemed to be an exhaustion, an emotional ache underneath the façade. An exhaustion keeping up with the demands placed upon her from the investors capitalizing on this rare beauty. Emotional ache lay from within, I imagine from all the trainers, photographers, and managers who only capitalize on her outward appearance instead of befriending the soul from within.
A piece to her beauty was missing.
Her soul was dying. Withering away from its lack of discovery or use.
I could sense her soul ached: to be known, to be loved, to be cultivated. It lacked richness and beauty—contrasting her appearance.
This unicorn sitting in my chair was trapped in a world that never valued any of her inner beauty, therefore over the years beauty from within her became strained and withered, similar to a flower lacking in rich soil and life giving water.
Her soul was quenched and in a desert, and therefore began to overshadow the outward identity she portrayed.
Perhaps she chose this path, perhaps she was lured there, yet regardless it seemed that the benefits of this lifestyle—being the rare unicorn of this world—were paying a high price to her soul. No longer did I see the most magnificent unicorn I’ve ever seen—a counterfeit stood in its place missing key components to its overall beauty.
The desire to be her began to disintegrate in my heart the more she sat in my presence. Her glamorous lifestyle with Luis Vuitton bags and expensive toys looked enticing on the surface, yet the price for it was taking its toll. Her outer beauty was flourishing, yet her inner beauty was wasting away.
There is a beauty that needs to be cultivated from inside every woman; a beauty of the heart.
It is a choice we all must make towards either cultivating things that grow producing life-giving fruit to be shared with the world or cultivating things that leave us striving, soul-stripping, and offer little value to others in return.
I still remember meeting the most beautiful unicorn I have ever met.
She sat in my hygiene chair a few years ago. She was a different breed of unicorn. 
Her wrinkly, leather coat with splotches were unsightly. Her mane was stripped of its luster producing a dull matted finish. When she smiled someone apparently had given her an extra set of teeth which protruded in ways that defied gravity at best. Her health was waning, her body hunched at angles lacking in poise. She had no luxuries to her name, in fact her wallet was deep in the trenches.
Yet there was something wistfully enticing about her. A radiance bubbled from her core that you couldn’t help but notice once you looked past her unmoving appearance.
She had an unshakable identity, a deep sense of purpose, a beautiful countenance that went beyond the façades we all know and feel from others so often.
Humility fell from her lips. Patience followed her steps. Joy wept from her pores. Love exuded from her eyes as she, unbeknownst to her, sought to touch the hearts of everyone she met.
This different breed of unicorn captured my heart in ways that soared above what I thought possible. It was a beauty that ran deep in her veins, a sense of confident purpose that out-shined her frail appearance. It was a beauty I desired stronger than anything else of this world. A beauty that goes beyond the surface appeal. Captivates hearts and reaches souls far greater than any shimmer on the outside. A beauty that no one else can force into you. It is a beauty worth cultivating and protecting and focusing on above all other desires.
I desire to develop that inner beauty that shines past the rarest of unicorns; a beauty that lasts when my body begins to fail. A beauty that will bring me a deeper level of satisfaction in life. I want to share this kind of beauty to others so they can know a joy that goes above the circumstances, radiance that goes beyond skin deep, and significance that moves past life statuses. This type of inner beauty is worth far more than rubies or gold (Proverbs 3:15).
Eventually the youth of my outward appearance will fade, and what lies underneath will be exposed to its greatest degree.
“You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” (1 Peter 3:4 NLT)
I said farewell to the unicorn today.
And with it the burdens of youthful fantasies now unattainable.
My steps feel lighter, my confidence feels stronger, my heart is fuller beyond measure.
