It's not like a scale of ugly to so-so to gorgeous. To say a woman is ugly based on her appearance means you haven't really looked at her. It's ignorance. Beauty is more than meets the eye. It goes deeper than that. There are layers of beauty. Beauty is body, mind, heart, and soul.
Women's beauty and value weigh too heavily on their looks. Looks shouldn't limit a lady. They shouldn't be labeled by whether a guy considers them gorgeous enough to date. On the other hand, they shouldn't be written off by anyone as just a pretty face and not recognized as a smarty pants too.
I don't even think we're measured by our physical beauty. I think we can decide something else. We can show the world we get to define our beauty. Our beauty is not how long our hair is with extensions of highlighted hair defining our beauty. If you like that, own it, baby. But if you have a shiny bald head, fightin' the good fight for your life... that is beauty.
Your skin may be tucked or pulled, injected with whatever, smeared with expensive goo, or weathered from the sunshine of your days. Your glow is not found in a bottle or procedure for purchase. It's your energy. Work on that. Being comfortable in your own skin is the sexiest thing on the planet. That is beauty.
Eyes that have colored contacts, are surgically lifted, or rimmed with a full set of lashes, are all a personal preference. This does not matter. The wisdom of life, the beauty of the journey you've seen, and the delight they express through you, are what make you beautiful. There is nothing more beautiful than a woman whose eyes light up as her grandchildren bounce their way into a room. (That would be my mom.)
Mouths creased with lines do not define. Whether the lips are full or thin from age, dolled up with colored gloss, they do not tell of beauty like a smile does. How many kisses you've given and received, how many kind words and authentic truths you've spoken, make up true beauty that the lipcolor of the season will never rival. You color your world with you.
Sizing up a woman based on her curves or lack thereof to equate her femininity is of no use. Strong women are truly beautiful. The strength of a woman can be seen in at her home, the hard work of her life, the birthing of babies, the raising of kids, in running a marathon, starting her own business, new career, or a charity, and the triumph of overcoming challenges she's faced. A healthy body is to be celebrated no matter what digits they add up to or squeeze their tush into.
The fire that lives inside of her is where her beauty truly lies. How her beautiful brain has helped her learn so much, how her heart has made her love so much, and her spirit that creates her world and her aura that spreads out to everyone she knows.
Don't ever put a lady in a box, thinking you can make her beauty about aesthetics, cultural standards, or whatever a magazine or media defines as the "thing" now. If she has a look of a certain ethnicity or descent, the exotic nature of how she was created should be celebrated and not erased. A woman's style is not a means to say she is or isn't a beautiful women, it's her choice. It's paramount choosing what is right for her, rather than shrinking herself and morphing into the last fashion, fad, or acceptable chic. A woman who is really herself is beautiful. A beautiful woman is decided through our higher thinking and not through a lens of judgement. Let's cheer for the beautiful women. Let's rise up and teach the younger women that they don't have to be a photoshopped generation that has to hide their flaws, imperfections, or their quirks for that matter. Self-acceptance is the key to loving who you are, on the inside and out.
I stand proudly with my sisters of the world to celebrate you. I'm 5'0 tall and will never have long legs. I'm not Patty Homemaker, but I'm sure I'd like her if I met her. We must celebrate the unique flavor that we each are, which makes this world even grander in its diverse beauty. Plastic robots who say all the right things may make certain people like them, but it wouldn't be living. I'd rather live full. I choose to live an authentic me. Authenticity means you're true to you. You can do what you want in order to enhance your beauty, cause who am I to judge, I love my hair dye to cover the grays. Just don't feel you have to chase a fake picture of a person on a magazine cover that doesn't exist. Open your mind, heart, and spirit up to see beauty differently. See it everywhere. See it in everyone.
What if all women really celebrated the beauty they saw in other women? No competition or comparisons. I choose to every day. I look for the beauty in them and myself. At almost 37, I've never felt more beautiful. It's because I know who I am. I focus on my Spirit first and let who I am radiate outward. I preach self-love because I don't want women to believe their worth comes from outside themselves, fitting in, or an idea/ideal. Just rock what you got, whatever it is.
Make peace with your body. Love your face, crooked nose, thin lips, aged skin, and all. Don't be scared. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. (Yes, I'm shouting it from the rooftops for all of us.) You always were and always will be. Now you can move forward happily being you without worrying what your beauty weighs. Take that off the table, stop chasing beauty, the hamster wheel never ends unless you get off of it.
I'm cheering on all you chickadees.
