So often when we see someone go against the societal grain on the internet, we brace ourselves for the negative comments and outbursts.
But every once in a while, the internet surprises us by lifting that person up instead.
21-year-old Nila Morton, of Greenville, South Carolina, was worried about posting pictures that made her feel good about herself, because she felt she didn't embody the standard image of disability.
Morton was born with a rare muscular condition called Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, which causes impairments in muscle growth and strength, and leads to severe muscular weakness and exhaustion.
Morton uses a wheelchair but does what she can to express herself with her appearance, including styling her hair, doing her makeup, and dressing well.
She likes to dress up when she goes out for an event, but she always shied away from sharing any of the "sexy" photos taken of her, because she feared the criticism of living with a disability.
Finally this past weekend, Morton decided to post two photos of herself, wearing an adorable, short black dress.
Morton said of the decision:
"I usually don't post pictures of myself when I have a nice dress on or when I go out... because I get nervous about comments since I'm not society's view of disability. I decided that I should just post it because I felt beautiful and sexy."
Morton decided to go to bed immediately after posting the photos via tweet, as she didn't want to sleep with any potentially negative comments on her mind.
In the morning, however, Morton was surprised to discover not only were the responses overwhelmingly positive and supportive, but her tweet had also gone viral and has been shared more than 36,000 times.
As a result, Morton realized:
"Getting that much positive feedback made me smile and anxious at the same time. I know that some people had negative things to say, but I saw how people had my back, which made me realize that I should never be nervous to show off myself."
In the comments, fellow Twitter users certainly had Morton's back as they professed how beautiful she was and hoped she would continue to share.
Some went so far as to "stan" her photos, celebrating her beauty.
Others enjoyed the experience right alongside Morton, finding joy in everyone else's acceptance of coinciding beauty and disability.
With a few critical comments thrown in, seeing such an array of positive comments on a young woman's first real share online is a heartwarming experience.
We hope this will teach Nila Morton, and others out there, that sometimes when you put your heart out on the line, wonderful things can happen.
