This is a topic that visits me on a daily basis.
I’m overjoyed with it as I sit here in my small office with the sound of birds chirping in the tree by my open screen, the sound of life- the car-fulls of people traveling up the nearby street, unknown neighbors walking by my patio-, the wind, and the view of sweet Daisy lying so peacefully at my feet; her unconditional love never ceasing to show. To me, this is beauty. Life, intention, goodness. Every single moment of life encompasses this. And every single being possesses all of this, even if in a different form.
Life to me is so far beyond what I can give an intelligible description of. It is everything that has intention or evolution. It possesses the ability to affect. All beings, plants, and minerals are life.
Intention is purpose or desire. It is the will to live or the ability to progress.
Goodness.. this is what makes beauty so apparent; so attractive. This is the aspect of beauty that, in its absence, can cause the recognition of beauty to be merely impossible.
Goodness is connecting with others, having good character, and caring for those around you. It is compassion, harmony, and kindness.
To perceive beauty out of life, intention, or goodness makes recognizing beauty within and around us overwhelmingly easy.
This idea of beauty is far from the perception that beauty comes from physical appeal. Appearance is completely irrelevant, is it not? Since when did being “good-looking” foster compassion and care? Goodness or kindness?
Now, I recognize that people are naturally attracted to individuals based on their appearance. But to me, beauty is independent of physical appearance. Of course, recognizing that someone is attractive is not a bad thing. Animals display this attraction too. But so often we ignorantly define someone’s beauty by their appearance.
Now, I recognize that people are naturally attracted to individuals based on their appearance. But to me, beauty is independent of physical appearance. Of course, recognizing that someone is attractive is not a bad thing. Animals display this attraction too. But so often we ignorantly define someone’s beauty by their appearance.
The “real women have curves/bigger is beautiful/Big Beautiful Women” movements, or at least the ads and posts I’ve seen, have bothered me for some time now. It’s not that I don’t think that larger people are beautiful; I believe that all beings are beautiful. It’s that these ads encourage us to continue to focus on outer appearance, deeming appearance as what makes someone “beautiful.” Furthermore, they encourange people to compare one woman’s appearance with another. I also find that many of these ads insult thin women by implying that they are the “less-womanly” of the two. Women are women. Beings are beings.
No person’s beauty should be defined by the size of their body, or any aspect of their physical make-up. Whether you are healthy, sick, thin, or obese, beauty– life, intention, and goodness– is not merely a physical attribute. We recognize beauty through connecting with others, not judging appearances. He or she (regardless of appearance or stature) is a beautiful human being with life, intention, and goodness. We all have beauty. We are all beautiful!
People are on a quest to find peace and happiness yet they rely so heavily upon the satisfaction of what they see in the mirror or how they are perceived by others. The more we compare ourselves to others or judge others based on their appearance, the further we step away from experiencing the magnitude of beauty within all things.
We often look at aspects of life- nature, acts of courage, kindness, children- and think, “that is so beautiful.” Take those moments to reflect on the beauty in those observations. Is it simply the smile on a child’s face or is it the wonder and purity that the child shares with you through her smile?
Is it merely the colors of the breath-taking sunset, or is the beauty in realizing the magnitude and greatness of creation?
People are on a quest to find peace and happiness yet they rely so heavily upon the satisfaction of what they see in the mirror or how they are perceived by others. The more we compare ourselves to others or judge others based on their appearance, the further we step away from experiencing the magnitude of beauty within all things.
We often look at aspects of life- nature, acts of courage, kindness, children- and think, “that is so beautiful.” Take those moments to reflect on the beauty in those observations. Is it simply the smile on a child’s face or is it the wonder and purity that the child shares with you through her smile?
Is it merely the colors of the breath-taking sunset, or is the beauty in realizing the magnitude and greatness of creation?
Beauty is compassion.
Beauty is reverence for life.
Beauty is forgiveness.
Beauty is grace.
Beauty is harmony among
you and fellow beings,
which will never be
achieved through vanity.
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