She was truly beautiful, even glamorous in her sparkly new dress (from a bag of hand-me-downs from a friend) that was a little too big and falling off of her shoulders as she ran up and down the hall and twirled with delight. She is two years old, and she knows what beautiful means. She knows what it means to wish for the people around her to delight in her, to see her, to know that she is important and special, and yes...lovely.
It's not something that goes away when we grow up. It's why we wear make-up and get our hair done and lavish over the prom dresses in the store even when we are far too old to go to prom. It's why we get in a tizzy over the First Lady's inaugural ball dress and the wedding dresses of the stars. We can live a little bit vicariously through them as we watch them walk down the red carpet or twirl across the dance floor with their husbands.
I've been thinking a lot about beauty these past couple days because of my daughter and also because of the song that my husband wrote about me and about this blog. I've been thinking about what it means to feel beautiful and to be beautiful and what it means for me, personally.
I've also been tossing around that whole, maybe I should grow my hair back, thing.
It's funny - one day I'm certain it's what I should do and the next day I can't imagine having to take a brush to my hair or use conditioner or worry about rolling the windows down in the car. It's a waffling decision at best daily.
Reading the lyrics to my husband's song I almost cried - he talks about how he thinks I'm beautiful with the hair like this and just knowing he would think I was beautiful no matter what I did is a pretty great feeling.
I wish that for all of you out there who are pretty sure that marriage is where you're headed. If he wouldn't think you were pretty anymore after you shaved your head you might want to re-think that situation.
This is where a lot of people will say that we should want to please our husbands and be beautiful and whatnot for them. I get that. I think it's great to dress up for the husband - guys are visual creatures - that's why women are prettier than men (if you don't believe it, check out visual art for the past six hundred years), but I don't think you should have to be perfect all the time for the guy to love you. The right guy is going to love you in your sweatpants. Will he appreciate the little black dress? Duh. But he'll still find those sweatpants kinda cute.
2 comments:
Frickin right! :) Michael is a great hubby!
And absolutely your daughter is to know that she should be appreciated, no matter her age! Marebear is such a blessing!
Beauty, I think, is often overrated in human society. We think (women, of course) that to be beautiful we must wear the pretty dresses and starve ourselves to fit into a size three and the what-not silliness of the world. I do the same thing. But I find beauty in my friend Krystal, who is obese to put it kindly but whose hair is long and brown and lovely and whose heart is sweet and uplifting and funny and who cares about the mother who hates her and calls her ugly and who raises her two snot-nosed little selfish siblings because she knows they need someone who love them.
I am tired and have just come home from work, where I dall myself up to some extreme to please customers, and yes, it does make me feel beautiful. But I love the fact that I can come home all coony eyed and my sisters and mom don't need to tell me to take a shower and come back when I smell clean, they just invite me to dinner and ask how my day was as if I didn't come home smelling like restaurant.
Post a Comment