Humans Are Funny (The Musings of a Character)

If you have seen my post From The Outside, you have met the character I will be speaking of in this post. I don't know his name, all I know is that he's a boy, probably about sixteen years old.
And that he's fiction.
Well, when I write a character (even in a little piece that I don't really have a reason  for writing), that character is let loose in my imagination. That character is stored there, allowed to roam as the wish. Sometimes characters just won't leave me alone and they get their own story (like Layla).
Others are just there in case I might need them again.
But this boy likes to talk to me.
I was working on painting a bookshelf a few days ago. I was a sight, I'm sure, in my mom's old green t-shirt (about 3 sizes too large), my messy ponytail, and sporting white and black paint all over. I was just painting, having a good time, minding my own business, when this boy spoke up.
"People are funny," he said.
I, knowing it's best not to encourage my characters or they will absolutely demand a story, didn't respond.
"They really are."
"What do you mean?" I couldn't contain my curiosity. I fear my fate will be like that of the proverbial cat.
"They don't realize how beautiful they are just doing what they love."
I stopped mid-brushstroke. Wow. What a random time for a profound thought.
"You all think you have to look a certain way, look like everyone else, paint your face, dress up, and act like you're someone you're not to be accepted. You can't see that you're so much more likeable just doing what you love and not faking it."
"Yes," I agreed. "That is a very strong idea in our culture."
"You're no exception."
Wow. Thank you, fictional character, for calling me out on my insecurity. I needed that.

The more I think, the more I realize his point.
We think we have to be fake to be attractive.
But really, people are so much more beautiful when they're just being themselves. When their guard is down and what is really them just seems to bleed through.
I don't know why we feel like somehow the person we show everyone is somehow more valuable than who we really are.
We're so much more beautiful doing what we love and being real.