You have to understand ugly to understand love.

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

-- by Margery Williams, from The Velveteen Rabbit --

I am a child of literature.

Growing up, I always had a book in hand. Maybe that's why as I grew older, I found it easiest to express myself in the written form.

There are times when I just feel like writing, I can't explain it, but I think that's why I love literature so much; it is so much more than just words strung together. It's the heart and soul of the author. It's such a beautiful experience to read someone's work and realize that you've lived that moment, and you know exactly how the author felt when she was writing. It gives you chills.

I read The Velveteen Rabbit as a child, and I remember loving it, but when I read this section as an adult, I got chills.

Love makes you real, and eventually love makes you ugly, but it's okay. Because when you're loved you're beautiful...no matter what.

But you have to understand ugly to understand love.

The gray hair doesn't matter...the scars are unimportant...the wrinkles disappear.

When you are loved, those things are just reminders of beautiful memories and wonderful years together.

Someday, I'm going to be ugly and in love...and I can't wait.