i used to have a boyfriend who told me i was the most beautiful woman in the world everyday… it was amazing i have to say… there’s something so reassuring, comforting, and uplifting about being told how beautiful you are-by your love, by your friends and family, by a total stranger in the market (thank you to the man who said “I love good food, see what it produces” at the whole foods in studio city)…..it’s validating, yet i feel we depend too much on the validation of others especially when it come to appearance. i want women to feel empowered by their spirits, their minds, their essence, their ideas, the love they exude… because that is timeless and true… and i want to attempt to understand beauty in a deeper way… why are we so obsessed with beauty? i admit i am fascinated with all things beautiful- songs, paintings, dance, sex, love, nature, fashion, women, men, even food can be beautiful to me, beautiful shoes, lingerie, things that are unique i find especially beautiful… recently, i even went around taking pictures of the less than beautiful neighborhood i am currently residing in attempt to find something beautiful in an environment i was struggling to exist in-there is poverty, rats, cockroaches, trash in the streets….. so I sought to capture life, the unique flavor of the neighborhood… i discovered this bush of beautiful fuchsia flowers and it makes me happy every time i look at it… honestly, i feel at home in beauty. and not in just a superficial way- in fact a physically beautiful man or woman who is arrogant or unauthentic immediately becomes extremely unattractive in my eyes. beauty is an energy, an art… there are lower income areas like boyle heights that find means to express beauty though plants/flowers/murals and there are places in beverly hills (that i’ve lived in as well- yes i’ve honestly lived in almost every hood in LA) that I consider too cold to be beautiful – plastic/sterile/neat/organized yet dead… beauty is about true self expression, authentically living in the vast energies of the world…
we all know beauty is a billion dollar industry-make-up/anti-aging creams/plastic surgery/fashion etc. how much of this industry is used to truly uplift us in our vision of ourselves vs. making us feel inferior? and how important is beauty truly? what defines beauty? they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder yet why do certain cultures/countries/eras adopt certain ideals of beauty? i can imagine people in the future laughing at how people used to put giant plastic bags in their chest to make their breasts appear larger… people use their beauty, manipulate their beauty, are oblivious of their beauty (i have a friend who is honestly the most naturally beautiful woman i’ve ever known who doesn’t recognize how gorgeous she is), complain of their beauty (jessica biel- are we supposed to feel sorry for you because you’re too pretty to get certain roles? if halle berry proved she can play a crack addict then maybe it’s not your beauty preventing you from getting the role?? anyway, i digress)…..i’d like to think that people are catching on to the idea of beauty being more than just in the physical realm- the dove campaign for real women, the recent episode on desperate housewives where gabrielle (eva longoria) tells her daughter she wants her to be more than just a shell… though marketing and hollywood can be powerful in our ideas of beauty it’s really up to us to REVOLUTIONIZE THE IDEA OF BEAUTY… to think and speak and appreciate beauty in a more meaningful way… to relish in beautiful moments, to show gratitude to the beautiful souls who inspire us, who share and spread love everyday, to REALLY find the beauty in everyone, to focus on beautiful energy, the essence that connects us all, to live authentically, to make our lives our work of art, and maybe plant some flowers in an neighborhood that needs them…
Andrée Belle 