Someone once told me "The best part of beauty is that which no photograph can express."
Beauty, and its best parts, are an action. Beauty is an outpouring of the within. Though our world likes to tell us otherwise, with style and grace being solely about the exterior--style and grace can only be beautiful if the inner linings match. I recently wrote and asked "what squeezes out of your life?" In the very same respect, the things that one lives passionately about, would do anything for, and over else are consumed by (all things that squeeze out of one's life)--they all have so much sway on beauty.
Beauty is an action. True beauty shows up in unexpected places, as kindness, service, gratitude, joy, selflessness, love, and humility. It shows up in forgotten places, like among 20 homeless woman staying at an overnight shelter, laughing and caring for each other because they are thankful they have enough. It shows up on camping trips where make-up and hairstyles are long forgotten, and a small tent and fire become luxuries, while we sit and share parts of ourselves under the expansive sky. Beauty shows up in the workplace when two coworkers take a break from the work work work mentality to get to know the heart of their colleague. It shows up when we least expect it to. Beauty, and its best parts, cannot be primped and prepped for. It cannot be applied through concealer, a curling wand, and that perfect little black dress. Although these things may bring on some style and grace, this is not what defines beauty. It is the action that comes from within that makes the beautiful show up.
For the Choose Beauty Linkup, started over at Thoughts by Natalie, I want to set the stage for what I will be writing about. A stage where beauty, at its finest, cannot be expressed by a visual. A stage where beauty is a way life is lived, and a way that other's experience it. Something that a photograph cannot express, but hopefully words can describe.
