"Find Your Truth" Series - Part IV

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We introduced our ‘Find Your Truth’ series as a means of discovery through shared experience: the experience of finding out what remains or becomes true for each of us as we grow older, more mature, and have more life experience.

We consulted some wonderful and brilliant women to discover what they have found to be their personal truths as they have worked to become the people they are today. If you’ve been reading the series thus far, you’ve seen that they are all relatable in some way. Through the sharing of their humorous, intelligent and insightful answers, we hope that you’ll begin to discover some truths of your own.

In the fourth post of the series, Randi shares her truth about Beauty.

“Can you and will you dare to seek authentic beauty? Or will you live the mundane and always see obvious and blatant beauty?” – Randi

This I know to be true about Beauty:

“Love of Beauty is Taste. The Creation of Beauty is Art."--Ralph Waldo Emerson

As a young girl I was always observant of how people defined style and beauty. I am not sure why, but I always found myself people watching and seeing how each of us respond to the idea of what is beautiful. Maybe my fascination began because I was an average girl, but I always thought there was something so beautiful about me (is this narcissistic?).

One of my clearest childhood memories was being at a friend’s house and having an adult compliment my friend on how pretty she was. A few minutes later, almost as an after thought, she turned to me and said “Randi, you do have some pretty eyes.” Of course as a child I thanked her and made no further comments. That evening I went home and glared at myself in the mirror. I did a mini SWOT analysis on my beauty in comparison to my friends. My friend was pretty by society norms, she was fare skinned and had long hair, but she had obvious blunders such as crossed eyes and a subpar mouth. How was she immediately seen as beautiful? I didn’t get it! My eyes were super clear, my skin as smooth as a baby’s bottom, my teeth were whiter than white and perfectly maintained, ears proportionate, and hair neatly maintained. What made my friend so pretty to that adult?

I will never know her answer, but my biggest take away was my beauty cannot be defined by another’s opinion. I also learned that people are attracted to the familiar and obvious. Very few have appreciation for the outliers….the authentic beauty holders. I believe that childhood moment radically influenced me. It is that moment that drives me to look at most things through a different set of lenses. That day my eyes were opened to the limitless beauty on earth. I developed an acquired taste for beauty. Can you and will you dare to seek authentic beauty? Or will you live the mundane and always see obvious and blatant beauty? Nothing wrong with it, just a tad (yawn) boring!

Click the links below to read Parts I, II and III of the Find Your Truth series.

Part I

Part II

Part III

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We hope Randi's insight has inspired you to share your truths with us as well. Feel free to discuss in the comments section, or to email us at PeaceLovePrettyThings@gmail.com with the subject "My Truth" and let us know you would like to be featured.