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beauty, clothing, daughter, Expression, Grace, image, inner beauty, love, Makeup, mirrors, mother's day, nails, perfection, self expression, self love, self-image, Shopping, society, where I Stand
What is Beauty?
By Where I Stand Blogger Denise Kirschner
Beauty… a word that has taken on many connotative meanings in our society. In treatment I was asked this very question…what is beauty? And what I wrote astounded me. You see it was not what I expected. It was not the ideal that was drilled senselessly into my mind by an abusive relationship. It was deep and came from a place inside that I had forgotten existed. It was pure, it was real, it was known…it was my mother.
My mother is beautiful. My mother is beautiful in the inside and on the outside. She is beautiful first thing in the morning… I love going over to my parents house bright and early and seeing my mom hustle to the door in her kimono robe and glasses. Very few people see her like this – she hesitates for others to see her without her face on. Why? She was born without eyebrows, and has been drawing them on for as long as she remembers. Beauty is accepting yourself without judgment. With or without makeup she is beautiful. Her face is beautiful, her smile, her frown, the wrinkles around her eyes… Beauty is natural. She takes care of her body enjoying walks with my father and doing weight-bearing exercises three times a week. Beauty is respecting your body. Her body has changed throughout the years, her stomach softer and rounder after having two children, freckles speckle her back from the sun; her body shows her life, her love for her family, her love for herself, and my dad’s love for her. Beauty is loving your body as it changes throughout the years.
My mother is beautiful. Her nails are rounded and are polished with pinks, blues, vampy colors – the latest, hottest colors. Her eye makeup is adventurous, her lips sometimes bold, sometimes natural, her skin glistens… She loves fashion and wears clothes that accentuate her long legs, her neckline, her height… she wears an artist’s pallet of colors… she loves to shop with my father, he loves to pick out clothes for her, and loves to see what she has picked out for herself. What she wears she feels good in… that is beauty. She dresses casually in jeans and a button down shirt when hanging around town to go on errands. She dresses smart when going out to lunch or to museum with her friends and neighbors. She kills it in the evening when going out to restaurants with my dad wearing outfits that captivate. Dressing for yourself is beauty. Her friends, my father, me… we are in awe of her style, her panache, her ability to look beautiful in everything. Beauty is a presence, a confidence you have, an inner glow that resonates through your skin to the outside world.
My mother is beautiful. Her soul is beautiful. Her essence, her wisdom is pure and beautiful. Her personality radiates and invites people in. Her voice is calm and full of love. Her voice is firm and assertive when speaking. Her face shows her concern, her emotions, her thoughts as she listens. Her eyes twinkle when she speaks of the love she has for my father. Her face brightens when she speaks of her children and granddaughter. Her laugh turns into streams of laughter that brings tears to her eyes. Her eyes can stare through your soul – eyes full of compassion, eyes full of sadness, eyes full of joy, eyes full of concern, eyes full of questioning, eyes full of anger… eyes full of love. Beauty is expressing your emotions, emotions you feel toward yourself, emotions you feel towards others, raw, honest, pure emotions…
My mother is beautiful. Through her beauty she sees her imperfections and sees them with compassion and understanding. She accepts herself, her body, her mind, her spirit… She is not perfect. Beauty is imperfections.
My mother is beautiful. She sees her beauty, she possess love for her inner and her outer self. She is a beautiful wife, a beautiful friend, a beautiful sister, a beautiful aunt, a beautiful daughter, a beautiful grandmother, a beautiful mother…
Beauty is my mother.