A while ago I posted snipets from a painting I was working on that was going to be donated to an out of state school.  Well, tah dah!  Here is the final result that  ended up selling for $150 all of which goes to benefit the art program to some very deserving elementary age school kids.  How cool is that!  I hope they always know how beautiful they are even when the world says they aren’t.  When magazines and friends tell them that with the “right” clothes, hair color, attitude, and size…..they too can be beautiful.  When photoshop reinforces that idea by never letting them see the “before” pic so they have a false sense of what beauty really is.

Let me tell you kids about beauty.  It’s YOU….because you are the only YOU on the planet and that my friends is beautiful.  It’s the smile on your face that lights up your eyes and makes them sparkle with a one of kind color. It’s your kindness that comes out organically….the one that takes a friend by the hand when they’re down, or makes a new friend with someone who doesn’t have one.  It’s the kindness that speaks of your dreams, visions, and inspirations while wanting to share them with the word in the only way YOU can.  It’s the kindness that recognizes we are all in this thing called life together, and way deep down, we all want the same things – yes, even your enemies.  It’s the kindness that speaks words of compassion, forgiveness, and love.

It’s what’s on the inside….let it out because you are indeed beautiful and you got it “right” the day you were born.

Here’s how the dictionary defines “beauty”

The quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.

Notice that tiny two letter word that makes all the difference in regards to beauty?  Notice it says quality or aggregate of qualities IN a person…….not ON a person.  When in the world did we decide that beauty was something ON the outside?  As a mother of two young daughters, it’s often a struggle to teach them that beauty has everything to do with what’s on the inside of them when everything in the world around them teaches otherwise.  They don’t have to earn beauty or buy beauty….it’s inherently already within them.  They had beauty the day they born, even if they don’t recognize it yet.  YOU had beauty the day you were born, and the good news is…it’s still there.

There’s a second part to that definition that is equally important:  the qualities in a person that gives pleasure to the senses.  It doesn’t say to give pleasure to “other” peoples senses…..just to THE senses meaning, it could be your senses – liberating!  You don’t have to take on the opinions of others and think what they think, do what they do, and love what they love all in the name of beauty.  You can find your beauty…..on the inside.  That which makes you happy and gives you pleasure, letting your true nature out is the most beautiful of all.

When you ask my daughters, “What makes you beautiful?” They will reply with “just being yourself”.

There is indeed beauty in the world – you are living proof!

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I see beauty in they eyes of both my daughters.

I see beauty in my husbands smile.

I see beauty in the hearts of all people, even way deep down.

I see beauty in the sun rising to say hello,  and setting to put the day to rest.

I see beauty in hiking trails that beg for me to take the next step.

I see beauty in my backyard, reaping the harvest that was sowed in spring.

I see beauty in the way the aspens are changing from shades of green to fall colors.

I see beauty when I skip a rock and watch the ripples tickle the shore.

I see beauty when I see children holding their parents hands.

I see beauty in the deep lines of our elders faces, giving way to their character.

I see beauty when people open up and share their lives with others.

I see beauty in the ordinary, the average, the common everyday occurrences.

I see beauty, because I seek beauty.  Take a look, you’ll find it too. Promise.

For once you open your eyes to the beauty that already exists around you, you will find that life is indeed BEAUTY FULL.

This post is dedicated to my friend Liv Lane who chooses to see beauty everyday.  Even when it’s hard.  www.choosingbeauty.com