On Being Beautiful

Note: Before I begin, I should warn you that this post contains the most beautiful (read: embarrassing) pictures of me, courtesy of facebook.  I believe I should warn you beforehand so nobody passes out from fright)

I started reading Ellen's new (and by new I mean it came out in 2011) book Seriously... I'm Kidding.

I'm only two chapters in, but the first chapter had an excellent message. 

Ellen begins her book by talking about how she was really surprised to be picked to model for CoverGirl cosmetics.  She then goes on to talk about what beauty means for her:

One of  Ellen's ads for Simply Ageless Blush! Doesn't she look great?!

"I still believe that above all things physical, it is more important to be beautiful on the inside- to have a big heart and an open mind and a spectacular spleen."

"To me, beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin.  It's about knowing and accepting who you are."

Society today is all about looks.  The first thing we notice when we meet people is how they look. 

Which kind of sucks for me on days I work early, because 9 times out of 10 I'm wearing yoga pants and have my hair thrown into some kind of messy, tangled ponytail.

As mentioned in my very first post, I'm very prejudiced.  And part of that is that I judge people based on what they're wearing.  It's bad, I know. 

But come on, lady at Kroger.  Save the too-small, hole-ridden, stained yellowish previously white tank top and fleece pajama shorts for Walmart.

Not that I'm perfect- I could join Regina, Karen, and Gretchen in their line looking in the mirror and pointing out several imperfections I have.  But what good would it do?  There's already enough pressure from the outside world to be perfect, why should we make ourselves feel even worse?

But it's true, beauty radiates from the inside out.  Like in that movie where the children are really bad and the nanny is really ugly but each time the children learn a new part of being not little terrors, she magically loses one ugly feature.

The ever classy and completely beautiful (although for some reason in her time people didn't think she was pretty at all) Audrey Hepburn once (maybe twice, maybe even more) said " For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone" 

There seems to be a battle of sizes going on.  Smaller girls attack bigger girls, bigger girls attack smaller girls, and everyone is left feeling wrong and ugly.  I remember in middle school when my size started a lot of rumors and I was consistently asked if I was anorexic. In fact, for a little while it was said that I was simultaneously anorexic and bulimic.  I don't even know if that's possible.

(Just FYI: I have never had any kind of eating disorder.  Just ask my family.  On my 8th or 9th birthday, I ate an entire large pizza all by myself.  I didn't even diet for my wedding.  But those who do have eating disorders need help.  They're going down a long, hard road and need support and love.  Making fun of someone who has any kind of eating or weight disorder is never ok.)

Maybe one day, instead of girls constantly smack-talking other girls for being too skinny or too curvy or too tall or too short will stop and we will go after more important things like ridding the world of cargo pants and preventing guys from letting their hair grow out all long and gross like (shudder) 

But in all seriousness, I've decided today that while I'm going to stay humble (but, thank you mom and dad for the awesome genes that made me the hottie I am today :p) I'm also going to work on being more confident.  I'm also going to work on not judging other people based on what they wear and instead focus on the real things like where they grew up and how much money they have. 

And maybe I'll test out Audrey's advice and look for the good in others, say only nice things, and know that I'm never alone. And maybe that new inner beauty will make me feel (if not actually look) more beautiful myself.