Today I tackle the task of defining what beauty is and what exactly it means to be beautiful. When most use the word, it is very rare that they find themselves knowing what exactly the word means. However, they use it to describe someone or something. We have all used the saying in one way or another, "if you were to look up beautiful in the dictionary, your picture would be right under it". It is because of this natural gimmick nature that I find myself even more confused as into what exactly is beautiful in the first place. On a basic level beauty as a definition is complicated because there are many opinions and perceptions of the word. Some people say that scenery and people that are flawless are what beautiful is but then there are other people who say that flaws are the most beautiful thing in the world. It is because of the complexity of the concept that really makes this series interesting.
To be quite honest I'm not entirely sure what beautiful is anymore. As I sit and reflect on the word it becomes harder to define. However, what I can do is truly take time to observe all things that are usually described as beautiful and see what I get from there. This journey is exciting to me because I hope it allows me to find the beauty within myself and that my readers find the beauty within themselves. So many people strive and struggle to be beautiful and I have a very huge feeling that it shouldn't take much work at all, perhaps it does. Either way I hope for the next long while or so my readers are as anxious and willing to take the journey with me as I am. Beauty is a struggle that shouldn't even exist but it does because so many people influence and alter what the word means and they almost make rules in order to be beautiful.
The idea of beauty and being beautiful is quite the exquisite because of the infinite possibilities it could be. It doesn't matter what lens you look through, beauty is going to be perceived as something different amongst various cultures, thought processes and perceptions. My goal is to touch base on all aspects of beauty and throw in a couple of surprises or two. Hope you enjoy!
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Beauty at a glance
Beauty is quite possibly the most complex
concept I have ever thought thoroughly about. So many things come to
mind when it comes to beauty and I want to explore it in every avenue. I
want to explore it in a philosophical mind, Christian mind, through the
mind of a female, through the mind of a man, through the eye of the
child, I really feel like this is a topic that everyone can relate to
and has a different perspective. Throughout this blogging series I hope
to shine light on the reality that we are all beautiful in our own ways
and we all should give ourselves the time and effort to find it within
ourselves.
Fascinating Beauty Article
I am Beautiful.
This came from a very interesting and impacting article that my dear friend posted on Facebook the other day. It is the inspiration and major driving force behind me wanting to pursue this blog journey. I will be blogging about each of these beauty identifiers throughout the series and hopefully together we can all do some serious reflection and discover that we ALL have beautiful attributes :)
Beauty is this word that is often thrown around conditionally.
It’s another category that can sometimes feel esoteric. To me, beauty is a celebration of everything in our lives—even the stuff that we shove deep down in hopes of never seeing that “ugliness” again—it’s the organic substance that fuels our gorgeous smile, and breathtaking laugh. Beauty in its rawness can’t be faked.
1. You are beautiful when you are afraid to do something, and you do it anyway.
2. If you have been to hell and back, your resilience is beautiful.
3. Beauty is a daring action. One that is built on your authentic intention instead of being attached to the outcome.
4. Asking questions—especially “why?”—is always beautiful. Why? Because curiosity is beautiful.
5. If you can string words together into a sentence, and you’re brave enough to let someone else read it, that’s beautiful.
6. Flat stomachs are beautiful, absolutely, but big, soft bellies are beautiful, too.
7. It is beautiful to speak another language. It is beautiful to try.
8. Beauty is putting paint on canvas, or strumming a guitar, or capturing a stunning moment in a picture, or dancing with your eyes closed.
9. Creating is always beautiful.
10. Your eyes are beautiful. Nobody else has eyes like yours. They are deep and authentic and instantly recognizable.
11. Beauty is being brave enough to embrace your feelings- the good, the bad, and the ugly. To open yourself to the possibility that there is something magnificent there.
12. Remember the time your best friend called you crying? Because only your voice could calm her down? That was beautiful.
13. Beauty is laughing so hard your stomach hurts and you’re yelling, “Stop! Seriously, I’m peeing!” Yes. Peeing your pants can be beautiful.
14. Beauty is not letting ignorance be mistaken for truth. Even if you’re the one in the dark.
15. Beauty is calling someone out for saying something hurtful, even if you weren’t the one getting hurt.
16. Your legs are beautiful. No, really. They are. Admire the curve of your calves, the muscles in your thighs, the peaks and valleys of your knee.
17. Letting go of a toxic relationship? Ah, what a beautiful relief!
18. You are beautiful when you rock out so hard at a concert that your neck is sore the next day.
19. Intelligence is beautiful.
20. Humor. There is nothing more beautiful than laughter.
21. Compassion is very, very beautiful.
22. Beauty is wearing an outfit so fierce that when people compliment you on it you say, “I know, right?” and then, “Oh, I mean, thank you.”
23. Strong opinions are beautiful.
24. Respecting other people’s strong opinions is beautiful too.
25. Beauty is your hometown, whether you love it or hate it, because it helped shape you who you are.
26. Beauty is telling a joke only you think is funny and laughing so hard nobody can hear the punchline.
27. Walking away from a relationship –Platonic or romantic because you know its the only way to truly love them is to stop trying to change them, and let them be who they are. That is most beautiful.
28. Deep breaths are beautiful.
29. Listening is beautiful. Choosing to respond instead of react- even if you don’t want to hear it- trusting that there is always something valuable in someone else’s words.
30. Your bare face in the morning is beautiful. Ask the people that love you. It’s true.
31. The way our bodies tell the truth—we blush when we are attracted to someone, we blink twice when we lie, we get sick when we’re pushing our mental limits—is beautiful.
32. Having faith in someone else’s word, because we know we’ve been true to our own. That is beautiful.
33. Beauty is being comfortable enough with someone else to be silent. As the character Sherry Anne in the movie Best In Show put it, “We could talk or not talk forever and still find things to not talk about.”
34. Beauty is being able to walk gracefully in high heels.
35. Beauty is digging your bare feet into the sand.
36. Beauty is sitting very still with your thoughts.
37. It is beautiful to find the strength to ask for help when you need it. No matter how successful you are. We all feel like we’re drowning sometimes, and we would all be glad to pull you from the rapids.
38. Beauty is loving your pet as much as they love you.
39. Beauty is a fresh flower in your hair.
40. The physical remnants of our life experiences—stretch marks, scars, wrinkles, and sun spots—are beautiful.
41. Wisdom is beautiful.
42. Humility is beautiful.
43. Beauty is the sweaty satisfaction of a hard workout- moving your body in the way it was meant to.
44. It is beautiful to finally tell someone your secret.
45. It is beautiful to turn the worst night into the funniest story- the ability to see the humor in the darker, sometimes neglected parts of our life.
46. Beauty is being able to truly enjoy the food you eat.
47. It is beautiful to be grateful to all the strong people who came before you: the ones who raised you, the ones who fought for your rights, the ones who were burned at the stake because they were too powerful.
48. Giving birth is beautiful. (Messy, but beautiful.) Rebirth- as many times as necessary- is also beautiful.
49. Freedom is beautiful. You are free to fill your life with the things that make you happy. You have a choice.
50. Happiness is beautiful. Never be ashamed of being happy.
It’s another category that can sometimes feel esoteric. To me, beauty is a celebration of everything in our lives—even the stuff that we shove deep down in hopes of never seeing that “ugliness” again—it’s the organic substance that fuels our gorgeous smile, and breathtaking laugh. Beauty in its rawness can’t be faked.
1. You are beautiful when you are afraid to do something, and you do it anyway.
2. If you have been to hell and back, your resilience is beautiful.
3. Beauty is a daring action. One that is built on your authentic intention instead of being attached to the outcome.
4. Asking questions—especially “why?”—is always beautiful. Why? Because curiosity is beautiful.
5. If you can string words together into a sentence, and you’re brave enough to let someone else read it, that’s beautiful.
6. Flat stomachs are beautiful, absolutely, but big, soft bellies are beautiful, too.
7. It is beautiful to speak another language. It is beautiful to try.
8. Beauty is putting paint on canvas, or strumming a guitar, or capturing a stunning moment in a picture, or dancing with your eyes closed.
9. Creating is always beautiful.
10. Your eyes are beautiful. Nobody else has eyes like yours. They are deep and authentic and instantly recognizable.
11. Beauty is being brave enough to embrace your feelings- the good, the bad, and the ugly. To open yourself to the possibility that there is something magnificent there.
12. Remember the time your best friend called you crying? Because only your voice could calm her down? That was beautiful.
13. Beauty is laughing so hard your stomach hurts and you’re yelling, “Stop! Seriously, I’m peeing!” Yes. Peeing your pants can be beautiful.
14. Beauty is not letting ignorance be mistaken for truth. Even if you’re the one in the dark.
15. Beauty is calling someone out for saying something hurtful, even if you weren’t the one getting hurt.
16. Your legs are beautiful. No, really. They are. Admire the curve of your calves, the muscles in your thighs, the peaks and valleys of your knee.
17. Letting go of a toxic relationship? Ah, what a beautiful relief!
18. You are beautiful when you rock out so hard at a concert that your neck is sore the next day.
19. Intelligence is beautiful.
20. Humor. There is nothing more beautiful than laughter.
21. Compassion is very, very beautiful.
22. Beauty is wearing an outfit so fierce that when people compliment you on it you say, “I know, right?” and then, “Oh, I mean, thank you.”
23. Strong opinions are beautiful.
24. Respecting other people’s strong opinions is beautiful too.
25. Beauty is your hometown, whether you love it or hate it, because it helped shape you who you are.
26. Beauty is telling a joke only you think is funny and laughing so hard nobody can hear the punchline.
27. Walking away from a relationship –Platonic or romantic because you know its the only way to truly love them is to stop trying to change them, and let them be who they are. That is most beautiful.
28. Deep breaths are beautiful.
29. Listening is beautiful. Choosing to respond instead of react- even if you don’t want to hear it- trusting that there is always something valuable in someone else’s words.
30. Your bare face in the morning is beautiful. Ask the people that love you. It’s true.
31. The way our bodies tell the truth—we blush when we are attracted to someone, we blink twice when we lie, we get sick when we’re pushing our mental limits—is beautiful.
32. Having faith in someone else’s word, because we know we’ve been true to our own. That is beautiful.
33. Beauty is being comfortable enough with someone else to be silent. As the character Sherry Anne in the movie Best In Show put it, “We could talk or not talk forever and still find things to not talk about.”
34. Beauty is being able to walk gracefully in high heels.
35. Beauty is digging your bare feet into the sand.
36. Beauty is sitting very still with your thoughts.
37. It is beautiful to find the strength to ask for help when you need it. No matter how successful you are. We all feel like we’re drowning sometimes, and we would all be glad to pull you from the rapids.
38. Beauty is loving your pet as much as they love you.
39. Beauty is a fresh flower in your hair.
40. The physical remnants of our life experiences—stretch marks, scars, wrinkles, and sun spots—are beautiful.
41. Wisdom is beautiful.
42. Humility is beautiful.
43. Beauty is the sweaty satisfaction of a hard workout- moving your body in the way it was meant to.
44. It is beautiful to finally tell someone your secret.
45. It is beautiful to turn the worst night into the funniest story- the ability to see the humor in the darker, sometimes neglected parts of our life.
46. Beauty is being able to truly enjoy the food you eat.
47. It is beautiful to be grateful to all the strong people who came before you: the ones who raised you, the ones who fought for your rights, the ones who were burned at the stake because they were too powerful.
48. Giving birth is beautiful. (Messy, but beautiful.) Rebirth- as many times as necessary- is also beautiful.
49. Freedom is beautiful. You are free to fill your life with the things that make you happy. You have a choice.
50. Happiness is beautiful. Never be ashamed of being happy.
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