Beauty

Whew... it's been a while since I've written anything, which isn't to say that I haven't wanted to or thought about it, or even composed in my head... just never got it out.

Self-Image. Sexy. Beauty. Somehow they are all related, but recently I've been putting a lot of thought into beauty. What is it that makes women beautiful? How is it that women see themselves and beautiful... or not for that matter. Kind of an interesting topic for me to ponder... I don't generally get caught up in things like that. The innate beauty of women and all that. But, as with everything, a recent experience kind of propelled me down this thought process.

I recently attended a friend's wedding. Per the usual female ritual, I proceeded to get all gussied up. Dress, makeup, hair, heels... the whole 9 yards. But, nothing really new and exciting. Nothing exceptional about the whole getup I chose. Ordinary, going out clothes, hair and makeup. Something interesting happened to me that night... SOOOOOO many people complimented me on how nice I looked, how BEAUTIFUL I was. Seriously, it was not like the cordial, almost required compliments that you give when you see someone all dressed up for a special occaion. It was genuine, almost surprise in people's voices. Now I'm sure some women out there would end up in this place ... "really do I look that bad all the time?" But I get it. I'm a mom of 3, I work in scrubs at night, with my rats nest of curls piled high on my head, and rarely leave my house in the day time, and if I do its probably in yoga pants. So, for me it just started this whirlwind of thought... how is this day and going out appearance different than others? I have seen all of these people outside of work before, and I have even gone out with most of them socially before... meaning dress, shoes, hair and makeup. And I have most definitely recevied compliments from these people on those occasions as well... but this was just different. I even had 2 strangers (friends of friends, but strangers to me) compliment my on my appearance. Is it because my hair is straight? Maybe I did an exceptional job on my makeup today, the color of my dress compliments me well? I still don't know. But it was nice and made me feel good.

So I still ponder what about that night? I believe, and probably have always believed, that a large part of beauty is your confidence, the way you carry yourself, your attitude. I'm sure that the more compliments I received the better I felt and the more of that inner beauty I displayed, making it that much easier for others to see I was beautiful that night. So then the inspiration hit me. I started looking and thinking about this concept of beauty. Not sexy. Beautiful. I feel like any woman out there can put on a push up bra, a low cut shirt and heels and feel sexy. But beauiful? Thats a another story. How and why do we feel beautiful. Some women are traditionally beautiful. Unbelievably so. We all know them. They can't help but know. But I started thinking that all women have beauty. There are things about women that are beautiful. Even for those women who aren't "beautiful" per se. Without going into a long explanation and story telling time (I feel like this blog is getting long enough all ready) for me, it's shoes. I love shoes, specifially heels, and I love to see myself in heels... more specifically just my legs from the knee down. That is my beauty. It doesn't matter what I feel like, what I'm wearing, how I'm feeling about myself or my outfit etc... seeing my feet in heels is beauty. So what do other women see and or do to portray their own beauty? Wearing earrings always makes me think I look more polished and put together. Goodness knows, fashion and beauty industry grosses ridculous amounts of money, so I feel like every women out there, has their one thing of beauty. Shoes, makeup, long hair, manicures, pedicures, skirts, dresses, jewlery, earrings, glasses... the list goes on.

I feel like there is a project for me here. We will see how the inspiration holds, or dwindles.

It must have definitely been the amazing shoes I wore Friday night.