As I passed the front desk, Wendy, the front desk manager,
someone whom I have seen thousands of times before (well, not thousands, but
lots and lots) said “You’re so pretty, Maureen!”
Wow.
I don’t think I have every really heard that in my life, at
least not said with such CONVICTION!
I mean, lets face it: there are the pretty people in life,
and then there are the “beautiful” people…you know the ones...the ones where you can see
their beauty, more from the inside-out, rather than the outside-in. Feel me?
And I have always been the latter. Which, for the most part, I am ok with…I mean,
we can't all be gorgeous beauties, right?
Let's face it ppl, there are more average looking ppl than there are those whom we would call
“objectively” pretty. That's why is called "average".
And I know, I know, none of this is cool to say because
beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?
How DARE I objectify beauty. Besides, women "shouldn't worry" about such a trivial detail, right? I mean, there are so many many many things more important than one’s looks, like intelligence, kindness, compassion, style, even.
But I am here to tell you, as a 50 year old woman: I don’t know
ONE WOMAN in my life who doesn’t want to feel *pretty*. And if you think that I am WRONG, I provide
you with exhibit A:
Exhibit A: The cosmetics industry is a billion dollar industry…and growing
everyday.
Let me try to put this another way: you know those ppl in
your life who post their selfies on whatever social media - this is someone who the world
finds OBJECTIVELY pretty - and you read down the list of comments: “Beautiful” or “gorgeous” or “stunning” etc. etc. etc. and
so on...and on and on the list goes (no i'm not bitter about this). You know the ppl, I bet you could
count 3 – 5 of those folks right now.
Those aren’t the comments that I get when I post a
selfie. Mkay?
And I am NOT writing this blog to get a whole bunch of
comments that say, “Oh but Maureen, you’re pretty too!” or “We are ALL pretty in our own unique way”. Nope, please keep those thoughts to yourself. Because it’s not what I am after in this blog. Not to mention, its no boon being objectively pretty. You may get a pass on some things, but not life itself. And that song lyric in "Lucid Dreams" by Juice Wrld (i have a 15 year old) that goes: "Who knew evil girls have the prettiest face?" OK the grammar is off, but you get the sentiment. And even Kanye West said a long time ago "The prettiest people do the ugliest things." BTW, I really did think twice about quoting Mr. West on this blog, as i know there are a slew of you out there who are currently on the "Anti Kanye train" but if you have been current on my social medias lately, you will see that i truly have less and less f#cks to give about other ppls. opinions of me. It's something i'm working on. So sue me. It's a good lyric.
All I wanted folks to get from this blog, is how good it made
me feel that someone was recognizing my TRUE BEAUTY! It was shining from the inside-out and somebody
noticed! And they said something! And for the rest of the night, at dance church,
I felt prettier, at 50 years old, than perhaps I have felt my entire lifetime!
We all want to feel pretty, and it has less to do with
our features, than how we hold ourselves, how much we are willing to work on ourselves,
so that ppl can see that shine! I have
been working hard on myself lately, peeling off the layers of programming one painful layer at a time…mostly because I really do get that – I have
this ONE lifetime, which could end at ANY TIME…and I still got shit to do, feel
me?
So the next time you look at a girl, a woman, a sister-friend
and she looks beautiful to you, tell her!
No - its not the ONLY thing that matters, its not even the “MOST IMPORTANT*
thing.
But is sure does feel good.
:o)
