Beauty – What does it mean to You?

The word beautiful surrounds us all the time. It can be referred to people, objects, nature, places etc. I think most often we associate the word with how we look, and our image. You’ll hear someone say “she’s so beautiful” about a model, and assume that is what beauty is.

But what does beauty really mean to you? Over time I’ve come to learn that beauty is so much more than just how we look. In fact beauty means something completely different to me now. This is coming from a person who suffered from body dismorphia, and judged themselves on their looks daily. I was obsessed, I wanted to be thin, toned, stylish & attractive. To who? I don’t know. I think I used the excuse that I was doing it for myself, but in reality, I was trying to please the world. But today, I want to talk to you about what true beauty is in the world.

More Than just Looks

It’s more than just your looks. In fact it’s way more. It goes beyond our “layer”. It’s goes deeper, and once you notice it, you’ll spread your wings like that butterfly. Beauty is who you are. Your talents, your skills and your flaws. Yepp, your flaws are beautiful! It’s the whole package that makes you, you! And that YOU is the true beauty. How you deal with situations, the love you share, the kindness you give, the struggles you juggle… that’s beauty. You’re composed of many talents, characteristics and imperfections that make you interesting, unique and BEAUTIFUL. The way you look is just your outer skin. It does not define your life and how awesome you are. It’s how you see the world, how you interact & the choices you make that show your true beauty.

Your Natural Self

There is no shame is showing your natural beauty through your skin too. Makeup is great at defining our amazing features, but that’s it. It works WITH you, not to hide you. Your natural self is the beauty, your confidence is your beauty and your authentic self is beautiful. Don’t hide it. So if you love your curves, own it. If you feel sexy, own it. If you love your nerdy quirks, own it. Own yourself. Be who you are. Because beauty isn’t those abs, or those piercings, or that on trend outfit. Beauty is you. Beauty in the eyes of image is also subjective. What’s beautiful or shall we say “pleasing to the eye” is SO different for every person. Not just one type of human is beautiful, we all are. We’re beautiful in different ways.

Beauty in Existence

Most importantly your existence is beautiful. The fact that you live, breathe, function, grow & learn is amazing and beautiful in itself. You are a complex creature, of many abilities. Isn’t that totally amazing? I was afraid of posting the images above of myself, because I was afraid the world would see them in a wrong way. But I really liked them. I feel they tell a story, differently interpreted for everyone. They are my artwork, but they also show the natural, real me, whatever that means to me. I’m learning each day to show that my real self is beautiful, and not everyone may like me, but there are people that do. I think the beautiful thing is seeing MYSELF as beautiful, for all the reasons I mentioned above.

Find your inner beauty, and let that shine. Your looks don’t define your potential. It’s who you are that’s really beautiful. Stay You! Stay True!