The beauty of ‘beauty’. What a sensational emotion to unravel. Yep, I consider ‘beauty’ to be a feeling and one that we are entitled to feel because, self-love. So what does beauty mean to me? Let’s begin by confirming the meaning behind this word (personally) has blossomed from dirt to a garden of roses. I once established the notion of beauty to be one dimensional and little did I realise, I was missing out on a wealth of knowledge due to clouded self-perceptions. Without sounding cheesy or like a broken record, (this may be unavoidable) beauty really is much more than its exterior presence. I grew up with insecurities like many of us, whilst simultaneously obsessing over a skewed need to obtain elements of perfection. This went from a ‘sometimes’ desire to an ‘I am not happy unless I look this way’ demand. An influx of comparisons and nit-picking came on board the insecurity ship and journeyed its way up until young adulthood. A whole new perspective of ME.
As a young gal in her early 20s, I experienced the world of beauty in a less aggressive tone. In other words, I chilled out from the expectations to look a certain way and focused on embracing, appreciating and teaching myself to take pride in what I have, rather than rapidly chasing the fight with never ending fault-finding. Becoming intentional in what media I consumed was the number one pride building step. My social media digest became a space of real (think, less photoshop) and raw beauty which in turn inspired new vision. Suddenly, my imperfections became a place of comfort and showing them off was even more exhilarating. A total mind shift from shying away to “...look at me go! Just casually celebrating my authentic, raw self. Proud!” I wore makeup to feel beautiful and I wore a bare face to feel beautiful. And within these moments, I learned that beauty is multifaceted, it is impossible to be just one thing.
Over time, I continued to understand that the emotion of feeling beautiful is a direct link to how I champion and understand my own abilities and strengths, whilst shining new light on celebration of the imperfections that make me, well... me. The strength of beauty is powerful, beyond its initial meaning. It is undefined, a mindset, a power move reflection of your own beauty standard. As the years roll on, I have continued to understand the depth of this word and its role in daily life. It transfers from external appearances to inner self work to experiences. And from my personal know- how, it’s the inner lust for self- appreciation and being kind to our whole selves that really counts. In short, love YOU from the inside out, celebrate the flaws and welcome peace. I’m not a medical professional, but I can guarantee this perception of ‘beauty’ is good for you.
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