One of the blessings I’ve had in life is skin sensitive enough that using cosmetics of any kind is sort of like playing russian roulette. My skin reacts to a lot of substances. I’ve learned over the years it’s better to avoiding using them than to pay the price with outbreaks and inflammation.
Even sweat on a metal watch band is something I have to avoid if I don’t want big ugly, weeping sores to develop. I got used to the idea of what nature served me up, was what I got. No makeup was going to be adding anything to it.
Having internalized that understanding I often found it fascinating watching beautiful young women feeling driven to ‘get pretty’ with makeup. Like so many, they also believed “beauty is only skin deep”.
Beauty goes much deeper than that and it starts with love. Love first of self. Not in the vain sort of “I’m better than anyone” sense. It’s a love cultivated from within yourself, it radiates outward, manifesting as beauty in all you do and say.
Not skin deep beauty. It’s a reflection of the beauty of the soul. A deeper lasting beauty.
The love powering that beauty has the power to transform and uplift. When we are filled with love, we are more patient, kind, and understanding towards others. We are more inclined to forgive and to seek reconciliation rather than hold grudges. We are more open to experiencing joy and happiness. We are more able to spread these positive emotions to those around us.
But love is not just a feeling. It is also an action. Actions always count.
Love is the deliberate choice to put the well-being and happiness of others before our own. It is the decision to extend compassion and empathy, even when it is difficult or inconvenient. It is the willingness to serve and to give of ourselves selflessly.
Humans have an almost default position to be on the negative side of the equation. Compassion and empathy has to be deliberately formed as a part of our being. It takes work and self-awareness. It’s a crop worth tending, love and empathy.
If we’re raised in a loving home, the seeds of love and empathy are planted ready for fertilizing and nurturing throughout our adult life. If we’re raised in a chaotic home, we have to become aware enough to plant and nurture those seeds into maturity.
As we cultivate love within ourselves, we are not only able to bring more beauty into the world, but we also experience the benefits of love firsthand.
When we love ourselves and others, we feel more fulfilled and satisfied. We are more resilient and able to weather the challenges that life throws our way. And we find that our relationships with others are deeper and more meaningful.
All too often we truly do go looking for both love and beauty in different places. The wrong places. Learn to look inward and find those seeds of love that blossoms forth with its own deeply rooted beauty.
Shadowspub writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.
NOTE: unless otherwise stated, all images are the author’s
