One of my favourite songs of all time “Beautiful,” by Christina Aguilera came on the radio this morning.
I loved the song when it first came out; when the Glee kids sang it and I loved it just as much today.
Why? Because I feel that this song, “Beautiful,” is an anthem for so many of us that felt not so beautiful as some point in our lives.
The song got me thinking, “What Makes You Beautiful?”
I grew up thinking that beauty was blonde hair, a perky nose, skinny body, trendy clothes and boys falling all over you.
Fashion magazines offer us a depiction of beauty.
Eavesdrop on the conversations of people socializing at clubs and bars. They all very readily offer a definition of beauty.
Cultures have a belief of what is beautiful.. For instance the Hima Tribe of Uganda encourages a bride to fatten by before marriage. Fat is a sign of beauty and fertility.
Many people around the world use facial tattoos and markings to distinguish tribes from one another and also as a sign of beauty.
Dictionaries give various definitions of beauty. Some say that beauty is what brings pleasure to the senses, other say beauty is an outstanding example of its kind. One even said that beautiful is a smasher. (I’m assuming a British term?)
For me beauty is something that makes me smile and my heart soften. It is the je ne sais quoi that evokes from me an expression of love, tenderness and awe.
Beauty can come in the form of a deep, rich color. The birth of dawn which brings with it a sense of new beginnings. An arm with a scar. A couch that urges me to sink into it with a good book. It’s a feeling of love and compassion that emanatesfrom someone, something, verbally or non-verbally.
Beauty to me is something that evokes a positive emotion response. It’s that simple. There are no rules.
And so out of curiousity I pose the question to you, What is beautiful?
~Love, Esther
