Paulina Porizkova’s No-Makeup, Crying Selfie Inspired a Young Woman to Be More Vulnerable
Paulina Porizkova isn’t your average model. At the age of 56, she’s not afraid to bare it all, whether that’s in a nude photo shoot or on Instagram, sharing her deepest and truest vulnerabilities. And yesterday, she took to the platform to share a stunning no-makeup selfie, which she captioned with a beautiful story of inspiration.
In her photo caption, the model describes a scene in which she is dining at a restaurant and a young woman comes up to her rather star-struck. Once the young woman realizes who Porizkova is, she quickly addresses her as “the lady who cries on Instagram!”
Of course, this is indeed in reference to a few weeks earlier, when Porizkova was circulating in tabloids because she’d posted a picture of herself crying on the platform. Porizkova explained that she’d been having a bad day that day, reflecting on love, betrayal, and trust.
The caption of the photo is perhaps in reference to Porizkova’s late husband Ric Ocasek who shockingly cut her out of his will just before his death in 2019 or her recent breakup with director Aaron Sorkin, though she didn’t disclose exactly who it was about.
After she posted the picture, Porizkova, admitted that many of her friends accused her of being a narcissist for posting the crying selfie, saying that she was trying to garner attention. However, the experience with the young woman at the restaurant proved that her message was extremely important.
After describing their initial meeting, Porizkova went on, “Then the young woman continued to thank me! She thanked me for being honest and sharing painful stuff, because it freed her to do the same. It released her shame of feeling guilty for having a range of emotions, and for not having to pretend. I think it was the best compliment I have gotten in years. THANK YOU PRETTY GIRL AT THE BAR!”
Clearly, despite the backlash that she received after posting the photo, Porizkova made an impact on many women’s lives by choosing to be vulnerable. We would have to agree with the young woman in this story, because being honest and raw isn’t always easy, especially when you’re in the public eye.
We think Porizkova’s intial photo was truly inspiring, and this story shows that ultimately, being your authentic self inspires others to do the same.
