I mourn for all of the vain folk out there, those who care more about external beauty than inner beauty. You probably think this post is about you. Why invest so much in something that is fleeting and will definitely leave you at some point in the future? Instead, you can hone inner traits and virtues that you are capable of carrying with you for the rest of your life and possibly beyond, depending on what you believe. Our bodies will be left behind at some point. How beautiful is your soul? Will you be ready to see it beyond this body?
A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
-John Keats
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness.
Should we take care of our bodies? Yes, in a balanced and healthy way. Not to an extreme in either direction, though. Pay plenty of attention to your health and well-being, but define it according to how you feel, not how you look. Why do you think some people who seemingly “have it all” are still absolutely miserable? They might appear beautiful and glamorous when gazed upon from the outside, looking in and being distracted by the smoke and mirrors. Yet, when faced with the true nature of self and when all the masks and personas are removed, well, that is when true beauty can be authentically and honestly recognized as present and powerful or dreadful and deficient, pure and pristine or lackluster and lacking. Make-up will only cover up and make up for but so much.
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth.
-1 Peter 3:3-4
Again, feel free to embrace beauty, but do not let it solely define you. Do not make it all that matters. Cultivate beautiful inner work while enjoying painted nails and alluring lashes. Manufacture a mesmerizing musk instead of using fake scents as cover-ups. Enhancing your preexisting qualities is very different from casting false illusions of yourself. If you only feel pretty with a bunch of filters and effects applied to your photos, then what work are you ignoring while deluding, diluting, and distracting? You do not achieve honest and long-lasting beauty by attempting a bunch of shortcuts. True beauty requires careful and deliberate steps to supplant and sustain a sincere and sweet self. Fewer mirrors and more moments with others. Less vanity and more spiritual sanity.
Exterior beauty without the depth of a kind soul is merely decoration.
-Unknown
We are all beautiful in our own unique ways. Do not believe anyone else who tries to tell you differently. Remember how much inner beauty they still need to work on if they choose to voice such vain and self-absorbed, comparative nastiness. Hopefully, they will eventually figure that out one day, but we can keep calm and carry on beautifully.
I’ve never met a person I couldn’t call a beauty.
-Andy Warhol
Can you channel your inner Warhol to see more beauty in everyone around? It will now be a fun game for me to play. I hope you will see my beautiful inside as I admire yours.
Maybe it is wise. Maybe it is dumb. Time will tell.