How do you define beauty?

Beauty...that quintessential element we long to be, long to surround us with, and long to have within our lives.  Beauty is many different things to many different people.  What may be beautiful to me may not be as beautiful to you.  This is part of what makes each individual unique within the world.  This is why we may all have a different answer when asked "What is your favorite color?", or "What is your favorite flower?"

Beauty, by definition, is "the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)."  To me, the word was never intended to be a socially defined word to encompass physical attribute of weight, hair color, skin color if judging someone by their appearance.  Beauty is a quality of meaningful design.  And in this definition, we are all beautiful due to the intricate design of our minds, our bodies, our spirits, and our thoughts.  As cliche as it may sound, we are all beautiful just by simple mechanics of how our bodies function from skin to organ to cell.


Upon pondering what beauty truly is, however, I am not always thinking of quality or meaningful design.  I stare in the mirror and hope to not see a crease on my face, another white hair on the top of my head, or sagging skin.  I attempt to look nice when leaving the house by covering the face I have been given by birth, by design, with makeup in hopes the dark under eye circles do not show as much, to increase the darkness of my eyelashes to make my eyes pop a bit more.  I love to shop for clothes, handbags, and certain types of jewelry.  I am not unusual in desiring to have nice clothing, but also do not become extravagant in the items I do end up purchasing.  

When I was a little girl, I wanted nothing more than to change the design of attributes.  I wanted long dark hair more than anything.  I wanted to have hair that was flowing, thick, and definitely not the thin blonde hair I had been born with.  I forced my mother to look for dark haired Barbie dolls, thought Brook Shields was the most beautiful person, and dreamed of this dark hair.  Why would I, as a child, think this was what beauty was?  It was very simple.  My own mother had dark hair.  I had received my blonde hair from my father.  In the eyes of a child, your mother is not only the smartest woman you know, she is also the most beautiful.  I wanted to emulate her beauty, and be more like her.


In defining my own beauty I have realized very important aspects of not only who I am, but what I would like.  I may look in the mirror and see the face of an aging person.  I am 34, and am told I look younger than my years.  But as I look in the mirror, I see those creases, white hair, and sagging skin.  I have realized it is far more important to embrace these subtle differences that most everyone else is unaware of.  Defining my beauty has become more about surrounding myself with those I love, those I enjoy, and those who bring joy to my life.  In this, I have found the greatest beauty of all.