beau·ti·ful
Merriam-Webster Definition of BEAUTIFUL
1: having qualities of beauty : exciting aesthetic pleasure
2: generally pleasing : excellent
— beau·ti·ful·ly
— beau·ti·ful·nes
The concept of beauty is a loaded one. The social, political, and environmental constructs that form our perspectives on beauty are not free of flaw and delusion. Yet, the messages we receive about beauty are so powerful, that to see through or beyond them is truly a struggle. And more often than not, we only have a small window of opportunity to really comprehend what beauty actually means to us.
To me, beauty means a lot of things, and usually, different things at different times. The question is, why is it always so hard to see ourselves as beautiful all the time?
The following (amazing) video was shown to me over the weekend from one of the most beautiful people I know. And now I want to share it with you.
It's called "Pretty" by Katie Makkai.
Awesome. What was your response to this video? What is your response to the picture below? Do your responses to these things provide a perspective on your own feelings about beauty? Maybe as a reminder... or maybe you learned something totally new about yourself...
Also, as a follow up to last week's post on Mindful Mirror Viewing, here was my Guiltless challenge from last week (reminder: The Guiltless challenge is to find one thing about yourself each day that you love...Unfortunately, it's a lot easier said than done!) Here's what I came up with last week. Please share what you came up with, even if it was just for one day!
1. I love my eyebrows
2. Hair is looking a little crazy, but I like it, because it's me.
3. I love my eyes when I get enough sleep
4. I love my abs after Pilates
5. (On day 5 I was super tired and overworked, so didn't remember to love something about myself)
6. I love my short nails
7. I love my legs, because they are the strongest part of my body
It's not easy to share these things without a slight twinge of embarrassment over feeling vain. But with all the pressures of society on us to fit a specific idea of beauty, I think it's time we forget about the concept of "vain" while we focus on appreciating ourselves. Please share your thoughts on beauty with us. We love hearing from you.
Be well, and enjoy the day!
Thank you for sharing this!! I love this video, image and your 7 day challenge! Appreciating yourself is not vain. Let's accept our beauty and let it shine! Vanity involves excluding others, this appreciation is all inclusive!!!
ReplyDeleteWe are all beautiful, not just pretty.
We are always afraid of being vain, cocky or arrogant,but very often we are depriving ourselves of being confident, proud, intelligent.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
THis video was really wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI taught a nutrition class to a group of preg teens today and when we began the section of the lesson about body image, I said to each one of them, YOU.ARE.BEAUTIFUL. THen I had them write notes to each other about something positive and beautiful in their lives. It was pretty amazing to hear what these preg teens had to say to each other. That they have a beautiful body, that there is a lot of joy in having a baby, they they are beautiful. It was a pretty powerful class.
Keep spreading the guiltless word!