What delights us in visible beauty is the invisible.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
We often hear the phrase “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Or “Beauty is only skin deep.” But is it? I’ve started to realize maybe both of these are misnomers. I’ve contemplated what beauty really is, especially as the beauty hack industry is amping up and working to convince us that beauty is something more cosmetic. More unnatural.
I think my grandma was beautiful. Well, I know she was beautiful. But you might look at a picture of her and think she looks like most any North Dakota prairie farm wife with Norwegian heritage. So what made her beautiful? Her wrinkled hands, her soft laugh, her genuine smile, her Norwegian accent, her ability to make you feel like her home was your home and you were safe there. . . hmmm. Funny. None of those characteristics have much to do with how she looked. It was how she made people around her feel. In their hearts.
There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.
Maria Mitchell
Of course there are things that are beautiful naturally. But as humans interact with each other, what is beauty really? I would like to think it’s how people make us feel when we are around them. I think we’ve all had the experience where we’ve been around some very attractive people, but something about their countenance made us want to withdraw from their presence. The opposite is also true. We’ve most likely been around people that wouldn’t physically fit the bill of being attractive, but something about their countenance, their mind, spirit, and soul, drew us in.
I’ve heard it said that looking beautiful can create more confidence in us. I’m not convinced. I have, however, noticed that when my body, mind, and spirit, are all in balance, my confidence soars. A balanced body, mind, and soul will most likely yield a joyful countenance. Think about it.
There is no definition of beauty, but when you can see someone’s spirit coming through, something unexplainable, that’s beautiful to me.
Liv Tyler
Reflecting back to my grandma. My grandma was always self-conscious about her wrinkled hands. She often smelled of Oil of Olay and Bengay due to the hours she spent outside gardening, milking her cow, and other chores. But she loved her lifestyle! She seldom went to town, yet entertained many neighbors and friends for hours over coffee at her kitchen table, in conversation clothed with compassion. So when I looked at her, I didn’t see wrinkles and sun spots, I saw experience, wisdom, joy, and a pure beauty.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.
Audrey Hepburn
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