Beauty

Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, our society is manufacturing the glasses. The mass perception of beauty changes with styles and fads. Girls are straightening their curly hair, spray tanning their fair complexions, sewing silicone into their breasts all because that is what someone thinks beauty is. Someone’s whose opinion matters to them. Maybe it’s their own opinion. But many times, it’s not. Many times, it’s the opinion of men they haven’t met that they want so badly to impress.

And it makes me sad. Of course, we all want to look our best. But sometimes, what is popular is not what makes you beautiful. Let’s be honest – bangs look terrible on most people. Spray tans are sticky and disgusting. Leggings are stupid – wear pants or wear tights, for god’s sake. But because so many other people do it, we believe it will work for us, too.

There are women that are beautiful without starving themselves, without coating their face in makeup each day, without growing out their hair, without wearing clothes that are too tight or shoes that are too tall or purses that are too big. There are women who don’t need what everyone else does to look beautiful. Those are the ones that stand out. I always look for women on TV or in the airport or at work with their own style. You know who they are because even if everyone else started wearing silly royalty hats, they wouldn’t dare. They know who they are and what works for them. Just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s beautiful. 

I’m not going to win any beauty pageants in my life. I could lose thirty pounds, I’ve never had a manicure or a pedicure, I wear glasses, my skin is pasty and my hair is semi-wavy and dirty blonde. But I have long eyelashes and long legs and eyes that smile for me. I have a dimple sometimes and semi-straight teeth and mostly clear skin nowadays. And I know I’m not Hollywood’s idea of gorgeous. I know in every room there are women most people would say are prettier than I am. But to Steve, I am the prettiest woman there is in any room. And to me, I am myself, and that makes me feel prettier than any amount of makeup or surgery or additional pigment ever could.

Beauty is fleeting. So is time. If you pursue beauty your whole life, when will you be yourself? To me, being yourself is what’s beautiful. Some other people have the same opinion. Find those people – then you can be yourself without feeling ashamed. Forget about anyone who doesn’t love you unconditionally and what they think. Then start over. Redefine beauty on your own terms. Maybe you’re a whole lot closer to it than you ever thought you were.

Beauty is not caused. It is. ~Emily Dickinson