In the Edge of Beauty: What Will We Have Left?

I dedicated this hub to the Wizard, Sa`ge, who inspired me to write this Hub. This one for you, dear.

You'd gone but never forgotten. I miss you.

Hello, Readers. How are you?

Let's discuss for while about beauty.

What is beauty? Hmm… Here are several definitions of beauty from several sources:

characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction.( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty)

The property, quality or state of being "that which pleases merely by being perceived" (Aquinas); that which is attractive, pleasing, fine or good looking; comeliness (en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beauty)

The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, an excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/beauty)

Beauty is the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beauty)

Beauty 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). (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/beauty)

So, in short term, it said beauty is the quality which gives pleasure to the mind. The translations about which things will give pleasure to the mind, of course, stay in the eyes of the beholder.

History of human civilization already showed how beauty can be different for each culture and each era. The last Egypt coin people had been found which have Cleopatra face in it showed the fact that the most beautiful woman in her time was overweight. Japan few hundred years ago also thought a big woman is beautiful. And just take a look at Leonardo Da Vinci’s Monalisa, don’t you think she is far from what today’s beauty look like? Human seems always creating a new category to be added in the definition of beauty and it is changing by the time and by the growth of civilization.

Now, please look at the pictures I added on the right side. Oh yeah, isn’t they are mesmerizing? What kind of beauty is that? Made the ears longer, or the skin became red and hair covered with mud. I love if my neck can be longer than it is right now, but I am sure I will never look attractive wearing that Kayan’s neck ring. But they did this because they thought it is beautiful. And that plate in the mouth! The things women did for beauty! Doh! And they still do it until now! Liposuction, face lift, tummy tuck, breast implant, nose reshaping surgery, eyelids surgery; almost everything to make them look like what civilization today called as beauty; symmetric and dazzling.

Combining those facts above together make me thinking, if yesterday beauty is no longer beautiful today, if we are today laughing on representation of yesterday’s beauty, and representation of beauty from exotic people which still here around us today, who can guarantee, in near future, it is not us, the one who become the sources of laugh because what we willing to do to be beautiful? Future is not so far away and to be honest, I will never able to enjoy the possibility to become the sources of laugh because my choice on how I want my beauty looks like.

I want, later when I am 100 years old, toothless, full with wrinkles and bald, I still beautiful. Will it possible?

Maybe not, but nothing wrong with dreaming, right? ^_* hehe...

When Sa`ge brought up this subject into my thought after reading her hub; Strained Vanity, and challenging the readers to write something about it, I’m not really sure what I will write. As 32 years old single woman, beauty still deeply rooting and taking part into my life. I am not talking about those cosmetic because I did let those go before I put my scarf to cover my head, but lip balm/lip gloss and several lotions for skin protection only. I am talking about the symmetric on the face; our face.

A few months ago, a man was introduced to me since he wanted to know me better and look for a chance to become someone special to me. This incident surprised me a little bit because it came too sudden, but it was not the problem. I believe I was immune to any differences and always respecting others no matter how they look like, but it turned out, I lied to myself. When he stood there in front of me, I did not speak any words for several seconds. I was frozen. In my head, the words jumped like crazy,

“He is so ugly! Too skinny and look like 100 years old heroin junkie. He seems not strong enough to become husband!”

I didn’t say that but in my head only. Still, I made my own prejudice based only on his look and I deserved a slap because of it. How could I decided who he is only by a look at his face while he did nothing but shake my hand with very cold tremble hand and grinned a groggy smile? I, who always said that I honoring people not by his look, but by his behavior; did it! This man had no chance at all to show me some behavior but I did make my judgment! Freya deserved a slap for that! It is really hypocrite behavior and a hypocrisy usually really close to sin! It seemed I still made some exception about what wrong things I still able to do if it is for my own sake. Hhhhh… Why did I call him ugly when it is not his wish to be one? God made him that way, so if I mocked him because he is ugly that is mean I mocked God! How brave! Too skinny didn’t mean he is a junky! He might be little lazy or too busy to exercise, or he could be sick or didn’t eat enough food because poverty, but why I should point on the worst possible first? And why it caused me judge him as weak in personality? Him hand cold and his grin look weird maybe because he felt really excited to meet the girl he had a crush on. I should feel flattered about that and not frowned my forehead! Shamed on me! But I learned my lesson that day about how far I was still from perfection and beauty itself. It is good. It keeping me humble and pushed me to always try my best to become beautiful.

So, what is a beauty for me?

My belief taught me that beauty is not about the dress you wear, but it is about how you wear a dress. We can wear the most expensive dress in the world and still look like a slut, but we can wear the cheapest gown the world ever made, but when it is being designed in dignity, fitted to the body in a polite way, it will make us look graceful and Graceful is the rare quality of beauty today.

It also taught me that beauty is not about the shape of your body, but it is about how healthy you are. We can change our body as much as we can with surgery and stuff, but it will not last forever or end quickly when the changed caused health problem. But if we stay healthy by keeping our healthy life behavior and keep our hygiene as best as we can, we will always look fresh and full of smile. When we smile to the world, the world will smile back to us because of a smile, just like a laugh and yawn, (even not as fast as laugh and yawn ^_*) is contagious. And when we find the world keep smiling to us, the world will feel like the happiest place ever.

My belief taught me that beauty is not about how perfect your make up is but about how bright your face shining out your personality to the world. When makeup masking our face, maybe we look beautiful, but only for a little while. It won’t able to stop us from looking less attractive without it. For several people (and me either), make up caused allergic. It causes the skin condition become bad because it has pimples. And it caused the skin gloomy which is not nice to look at. But if you have a great personality, healthy and fresh body, and also full of a smile; it will make you happier and happy face will shining to the world and the world will find you as irresistible.

It also taught me that beauty is not about how sexy your look is but about how good your ability to touch other people feeling with your presence only. The word ‘sexy’ is about sex appeal. A quality which will draw human perception to one activity for sure, sex. I know many women want to be sexy but I found the word “sexy”, if it is said by a stranger, caused me felt like I was being degraded. I don’t want to have sex with everybody so what’s for I allowing everybody think about my sexiness? Therefore, I’m against being sexy for the world. Still I should be sexy for my husband, but me and my husband can work together to find how to become sexy in his sight, which of course different for every individual (and every trial and error me and my husband work on will become ingredient for our marriage so it can be far from boring at all). But there will be no sexy to the world from me! It will be better if every time I am entering the room, my grace and my smile become a weapon of my beauty and make other feel cozy around me than make them horny.

My belief taught me that beauty is not about displaying yourself to the world but simply about dazzling the world with your mind. I don’t want to be seen and remembered as a silent image in the photo with my face and my body as the only tools I have. If the house is burning down and all those pictures are scorched while I am already 100 years old, I will have nothing left but my weak bones, toothless mouth, and wrinkle skin. But if I put my mind to the paper or teach what I know and what I see in my mind to the world, my wisdom will live through the mind of those who read or hear it, and my beauty will stay long, even after I am gone.

Beauty is the quality which gives pleasure to the mind and the quality is a combination of hygiene, health, great personality, nice attitude, respective behavior and dazzling mind. It is a beauty for me. The rest will become part of history only.

Have fun, my friends. Have a nice day for all.

Thank you for reading my random thought. :) and please forgive me for grammatical error and its friend. ^_^

I hope it useful.

Freya