So rather than tell a story today, I'll take a five minute dive into the word makeup.
The first and most obvious meaning that comes to mind is the lipstick, eye liner, blusher and other lotions and potions that the fairer sex typically use to con us unwitting men into thinking that they have happened upon Scarlett Johansen's long lost twin sister. In all honesty, these days if you were single, you could meet a girl on a night out, share an auld smooch and you could literally walk past the same girl the next day in the street if she was not wearing "her face" or makeup.
I obviously am not a girl, so I cannot say why most women wear some makeup or in lots of cases here in Ireland anyway, tonnes of makeup, but what I personally find beautiful is a woman with no makeup, or just some very subtle make up, I guess I am lucky that my wife fits that bill and is absolutely beautiful without a single bit of makeup on, although she does of course wear some on a night out or an occasion.
I suppose some of the allure may be the getting ready phase for women, which in some ways I'd say is even more fun for them than the going out itself, as I often observe women getting ready together having serious craic, banter and few drinks.
Something else that springs to mind with the word makeup is our own makeup, what makes us who we are - the body, the spirit, the personality, the morals, the family, the friends, the whole makeup. We are all original one of miracles of Devine creation or extraordinary evolutional good fortune. Whichever it is, I love to see people express their own individuality and not conform to some societal norm that we see so often. The world is going down a dangerous path these days where there is a lot of groupthink and when someone disagrees or has their own opinion, they often get shot down or ridiculed - it is so important to listen to all sides of a story whether you agree or not, that is what will make you rounded and give you greater empathy and awareness - I believe you learn much more from people you disagree with, as apposed to inside an echo chamber of like minded people, who agree on everything.
There goes the alarm....
So what do you think of when you hear the word Makeup?
It's been way to long since I did a Freewrite so here I am to pay homage to one of the first communities that welcomed me here with open arms, as such I always pop back and say hello. This is my first Freewrite of 2023 and it felt great, as I don't often get to let my creative side flourish.
So, do you know about Free writes? When I first arrived on Hive or the previous chain, I would often struggle for ideas on what to write about, and there were two writing initiatives that really helped - one was called #fiftywords where you could use only fifty words to tell a story about a prompt word and the other was #freewrite which basically sets a challenge of writing a mini story within 5 minutes. I regularly took part in both, and people like 
Maybe you've never heard of the freewrites yourself, and if that is the case, I'd encourage you to have a go, read about todays prompt and how to enter below and above all else mind yourself and have a great day - smile, rub a dog, help a stranger and just be a nice human.
@mariannewest/day-1936-5-minute-freewrite-thursday-prompt-makeup
The photo used is not my own and was sourced on https://pixabay.com/photos/paint-makeup-girl-cosmetics-2985569/
