Beauty

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A statement that couldn’t be more accurate. Most people find beauty in things like sunsets and landscapes. However even in these things what people find to be truly beautiful is different based on the person. One could love when the sky is a vibrant red and one could love when there is a haze in the sky making the sunset more like a colorful rainbow. Someone could love the beauty of snow capped mountains,  one could love the fall in all its changing colors, or the beach as the waves crash against the shore. There are so many beautiful things in nature making it easy to find some kind of beauty. For many days I would drive past this tree in the middle of a grassy area. Not just any tree, but one that looks like it has had a whole life with all these twists and weathered branches. It is just amazingly simple yet beautiful and makes me remember to appreciate the little things in life. I don’t travel this way much anymore, but the beauty of this landscape will forever be in my memory and I do take that way whenever possible. The simple beauty of nature is something truly unique and magical.

Beauty in people is something entirely different. What one person finds beautiful another may not at all. The media tells us what we should find beautiful, thin and tall women and fit and waxed men. Look at the movies and how popular a movie can be with absolutely no real plot as long as you have 4 half naked, chiseled and oiled men dancing around. Does this make us admire their beauty or hate ourselves because we could never look like that? I think a little of both, otherwise botched wouldn’t have as many seasons as it does. People trying to look like those they see on TV or thinking that by changing the one thing they don’t like about themselves that they will feel better. The problem is that no matter what you change on the outside you won’t feel beautiful until you change what’s on the inside. Beauty radiates from within. However, how do you get that confidence when everything around you tells you to be something else? It’s so much easier to believe the bad things. What does it really take to overcome the bad? I’m not reallly sure.

Being told you’re beautiful from your mom, aunt, grandma or any family member means a whole lot of nothing.  They say that because they have to… or they’re bias. Even hearing it from a friend is questionable. But when someone you like, admire or love calls you beautiful you start to feel that maybe it’s true. Maybe you are a beautiful girl, or maybe you are just to them and really isn’t that all that matters?

Personally I find beauty in all types of people.  There was this lady with legs for days that walked past looking like a million dollars at 6 AM to catch a flight. I thought damn if I had legs like that I’d show them off too, good for you. At dance show there was this larger girl and I would look at her and think there is a beautiful girl…so confident and beautiful. There are the “magic Mike” kind of men who are only beautiful when not too chiseled, and there are the every day men who exude confidence and swagger that are even more beautiful. This is because beauty does come in all shapes and sizes and if you keep your mind open to the beauty of each individual you might find more beauty within. You don’t have to be what the media tells you to be, you just need to be true to yourself. Your personal style and swagger will be an inspiration to others as well as yourself.