Entry: August, 31, 2022
When we use beauty, especially "youthful beauty," as the barometer of what tells us if we are beautiful or not, we use our beauty to harm us.
There's no beauty fix for not loving yourself. We have been completely brainwashed to keep our aesthetic youth for as long as we can because, unfortunately, "youthful beauty" is our standard for beauty in our society. But what if it isn't? ...or what if it doesn't have to be the standard?
What if?
Can you stop for a moment and see that there can be a different way to look at beauty? Why is this unattainable youthful beauty our standard, and more importantly, why are you listening to it!? Aren't you someone who thinks outside of the box? I know I am, so why have I done this to myself? This country spends millions of dollars on plastic surgeries and cosmetic dermatology and this is also at an all-time high. As I have been learning and growing these past few years with my project, I have been questioning all of it.
I have been asking myself, "Can I look at this differently?"
When we use "youthful beauty" as the barometer of whether we are beautiful or not, we use our beauty to harm us. It's a complete setup to make us feel bad about ourselves. Every time you see a wrinkle, you tell yourself, "I am no longer beautiful because I have this wrinkle." And then you fall down the rabbit hole trying to fix it. You research the best eye creams, message your girlfriends for their secret tricks, and you book the appointment with your cosmetic dermatologist.
But what if this "youthful beauty" wasn't our barometer of how beauty is defined?? What if the barometer was having the privilege to age?
What if it was being able to experience the different things we do in each decade of our lives? What if we got back into our bodies and stopped living, looking at them from the outside like they are something to be fixed? What if we started seeing the beauty in the moments we get to spend connecting with our loved ones and showing up exactly the way we are — not the "perfect version," but the whole and imperfect, beautiful person you are? What if we started breathing in the privilege of being able to age and, more specifically if you are so lucky, the privilege of being able to age with a healthy mind and body. What if you could stop and admire the beauty of women in each generation? What if you decided today to say, "I will no longer use my beauty to harm myself!" And if you have children, "I will no longer use my beauty to harm them!" Can you say, "I will no longer look in the mirror and tell myself that my beauty/myself is not enough!!" Can you, can we... go beyond "the beauty"?
Love,
Bridgett