During my shuttle to Manhattan at the Express Bus one morning, I had the enterprise and pride of reading the March issue of Allure magazine. I commenced by reading the Letter from the Editor Linda Wells and stumped upon this striking trap phrase, the “pursuit of splendor.” Linda explains this phenomenon to be similar to the pursuit of the American Dream. It is “a right to determine and improve our crucial selves, psychologically and physically…
That transcends gender, magnificence, race, age, and sexual orientation.” I idea to myself, “this is so real!” What individual does today no longer need to be and feel beautiful? There isn’t any doubt that we as human beings are acutely sensitive to our bodily appearances and could do something to gain or keep our non-public beauty. Our insatiable need for all things “beauty” proves that we’re all in full pursuit and unapologetically so.
According to the dictionary.Com, beauty is “the great present in a component or individual that gives severe delight or offers deep pleasure to the mind.” This emotional bond to pleasure explains why splendor plays the sort of significant component in our lives. We cannot help ourselves in the presence of factors or humans that name our sensibilities. Even though a remember of flavor and opinion, physical beauty is also characterized by society’s perspectives. In maximum cultures, the life of symmetry or stability is a determining factor of beauty because it suggests the absence of “flaws” or “defects.”
Facial stability, complexion, frame form, and size, in addition to youthfulness, are all standardizations of beauty. However, the characterization of splendor can not be understood without additionally understanding that splendor has some other aspect to it – One that is not so physical but rather metaphysical (an extra intangible element ). We cannot always see or touch it, yet its presence is simple. With that being stated, we can not exclude psychological factors, which include character, intelligence, politeness, elegance, or air of mystery as figuring out factors in spotting splendor.
As I researched greater into this splendor craze, I stumbled upon some very thrilling findings. To my wonder (good enough, perhaps now not so surprised), researchers have found that owning bodily elegance may be quite influential in a person’s life. Someone who’s taken into consideration to be beautiful is likely to get better grades, get hold of better care from their medical doctors, obtain lighter prison sentences and earn more money.
As if we do not have enough troubles inside the globe today, now we understand that uncontrollable factors like our God-given splendor or “lack thereof” are simply another social barrier to feature to our listing. Whether we are renowned for it or not, and whether we do this consciously or unconsciously, this sort of “lookism” has plagued our society for years and might shed some light on the depth of vanity in our global nowadays.
This daunting truth really affects how we perceive ourselves in addition to others. The photos we see on TV also determine what we don’t forget to be lovely and use pressure to look for perfection. We spend hundreds of bucks and insurmountable time purchasing online or on the department shops, buying all sorts of beauty products, making nail, hair, facial, and botox appointments, studying fashion magazines, and taking specific note of what our favorite celebrities are sporting, doing and the usage of to stay slim, younger and yes, beautiful.
Let’s no longer forget that there was once a time whilst we have been all mystified with the aid of the lovely fashions and celebrities, who flawlessly walked the pink carpets and flanked the covers of magazines effortlessly, or at the least, so it seemed. We dreamed of approximately being them and looking like them, thinking they had been born perfectly in that manner. Thanks to our growing obsession with movie star-lifestyles, the shameless and countless invasions of privateness via truth television, the social networks, and the “tell-all” craze, we not simplest have the data and the information however also get right of entry to the once “pinnacle mystery” once in a while intense, bodily enhancers.
Don’t get me wrong, the “pursuit of beauty” doesn’t ought to suggest a journey to a plastic medical professional, nor is it an elusive commodity accessible only to the rich and well-known. We can all be physically lovely! The multi-billion greenback splendor industry has made certain to meet each splendor need by bombarding us with a plethora of products and services geared toward making us feel more youthful and extra lovely. The possibilities and assets to be had to us are limitless in this department.
We have products that make us look younger, merchandise that makes our skin smoother, products that make our stomachs flat, merchandise that make our lips plumper, products that deliver us fuller hair, products that make our lashes longer and thicker, stylists, eyebrow threaders, make-up artists, style trends that alternate every season, adornments like jewelry, necklaces, tattoos, hats, etc. all of us use these things to beautify our non-public beauty and elegance in a few ways.
However, the reality is our pursuit of splendor is not just about exploiting our “sexual capital.” It’s not simply the physical element of beauty that enamors us. We search for a combination between the visible and the unseen – The bodily (outer) and the psychological (inner) because they both thrive off each different. I, like many, accept as true that actual beauty comes from within.
Inner beauty, in my definition, is that undeniable, profound light that shines from you and onto the arena. It is your air of mystery, your spirit, the stamp you go away in the back of after someone meets you for the primary time. My father likes to consult this intangible, non secular side of our human nature because of the “inner guy” or “woman.” Though this “internal splendor” might also come less difficult to a few than others, it is the start to satisfy this intrinsic desire for physical pleasure or happiness.
If psychologically we can discover the power and self-belief to look at ourselves as beautiful regardless of what, then the sector might have no desire to view us in that manner. Any bodily imperfections that we might imagine we own can disappear. Possessing inner splendor is the foundation of the pursuit of splendor. After all, we recognize that with age bodily beauty disappears. Many uncontrollable forces could without difficulty take away or lessen our bodily splendor, like an extreme twist of fate or ailment as an instance. Inner beauty comes from a deeper area. It oozes from your coronary heart and soul and serves as a complimentary issue to physical beauty.
So why this urgency in wanting to be beautiful? What lies beneath this so-known as a pursuit? What is it that actions us into the search for close to perfection? The fact is, the pursuit of splendor is, in truth, the pursuit of happiness – they may be one of the identical. Though Linda refers to this pursuit as being “fairly American,” to me, it’s miles extra so, undeniably human. Whether it’s miles a physical or mental development to ourselves, we are all in look for this completeness. It is a calling to being someone larger and higher than we’ve got ever been. It’s about one foot out your door, normal feeling like a ray of light, assured with every step you take. It is an aim, a well-known to set, rewarded with an entire life of self-belief, self-warranty, delight, grace, poise, and enthusiasm for life after completed.
We, therefore, can’t deny that we are in a brand new technology, in which splendor and the purchase of it is no longer an enigmatic, complicated phenomenon, but instead an expression of one’s pleasure and self-esteem. Beauty has now ended up a way of life, and we’ve got found out that physical splendor cannot stand on its own; we can most effectively enhance it. It is simplest while there is complete synergy among the physical (outer splendor) and the psychological (internal beauty) operating in complete stability with each different like yin and yang. Can we competently say we’ve completed our purpose in this pursuit of splendor and the end of happiness?
Inspired by using Editor’s Note of March Issue of Allure mag- “The Pursuit of Beauty” via Linda Wells
