Beauty

Standing in my bathroom this morning listening to Amy Winehouse whilst getting ready for Work, I stared into the mirror.

I looked at the lines beneath my eyes, my stomach and my thighs.

Although I pondered (yet again) where the years had gone I also began to wonder when I had started to look at the negatives in the mirror instead of the positives.

I have my Father’s eyes.

I have my Grandmother’s smile.

I have my Mother’s big heart.

…and not only that I am also happy, healthy and loved.

And so I began to wonder how it got to this; perhaps it is indeed time to turn off the TV, ignore fashion magazines and look within.

Time and time again we are told that outer beauty is paramount. We are sold an idea – an idea that can cause illness and pain (in the form of eating disorders and other mental illnesses) and yet it also sells cosmetics, clothes, surgery and even a ‘lifestyle’.

Kate Moss once famously said, “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”.  (This is an apparently well-outdated and no longer used slogan for a weight-loss company).  So I find myself examining just what the true effect this kind of  statement has on many women.  In an age where information can be shared so quickly and so freely – what kind of effect will this have on the women of today and indeed tomorrow?

In the last few years I have battled with my own weight.  Once 48 kilograms and waif-like I am now however much closer to 70 kilograms. But I am also happy, fulfilled and a great deal healthier (both mentally and physically) than I was at my lower weight.  I also realise that it really is as the cliché goes that it's ‘what’s inside that counts’.  I’ve met some amazing people over the last few years and I realise that outward appearance does not matter.  Please understand that I am not saying people should neglect their health – I am merely saying that how a person looks has nothing to do with their inner beauty. 

I don’t have a magic solution.  I have no idea what comes next.

But I do know this – photoshop and fashion magazines may make things look beautiful for a moment, but what a beautiful person does can shape lives and change people for the better.

And to be honest, I strive to be the latter.