True Beauty

By Trish

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it,”
-Confucius-

Beauty. Such a simple word with barely few alphabets needed to build it. Made up of only two syllables, one may even see the word as frivolous if judged candidly by the outer figure. The Old French referred to the word as beaute, whereas the Latins say bellus. Still the same; beauty, beautiful.

Despite these being said, most people carry beauty as a burden on their backs. Albeit the trivial saying of ‘beauty being subjective’ having embodied in society, people still see beauty as something sophisticated. Something refined. Something worth to be called a candy for the mundane eye. All because the word carries more meaning despite how transparent it may sound.

Beauty is subjective.

Why?

Well a young mother may find beauty in the rich sound of her newborn baby’s cries. A husband may see profound beauty in the effort of his wife taking care of their children. A passionate doctor would most probably find beauty in the eyes of their healthy patients. A diligent mechanic would certainly approve the beauty of a 1969 Ferrari Dino. A police officer would appreciate upholding justice, just to see the beauty of peace and tranquillity in their beloved country.

So many paradigms, different, diverse of prospects.

Yet many still fail to see the bigger picture of what beauty really is.

That boy in class whom you laughed at for not being able to present without stuttering every three seconds. The girl whom you made fun of for her distorted and unarranged teeth. That man whom you spoke badly of for owning a dilapidated car. That lady whom you laughed at from behind for her tacky choice of clothing, especially her mismatched stockings.

They say things aren’t always as they seem to be.

Same thing goes for beauty.

That boy, he’s dyslexic. He struggles to read even a single sentence and that made his self-esteem deteriorate from a young age. He decided to simply avoid talking to people, fearing that he’d be made fun of. However, age matured him. Now he’s more than determined to overcome his weakness, burning his midnight oil every single day with hope that he’d be just as amazing as everyone around him.

That girl, she’s too poor to afford 5K braces. Her boarding school fees were more than 20 grand, her younger sister’s annual GCSE’s were a sum of at least millenary, her father wasn’t working, her mother’s going through at least two surgeries every year, and those are not even the worst that she’s going through. Undeterred by the things on her plate, she prioritises family over everything else. Sacrificing her needs for the sake of her siblings. To be a good sister. A good daughter.

That man, his late father bought the car when he first learned to drive. That car was also the vehicle that took his father’s life away. He lived a lifetime of guilt, for he was the one on the driver’s seat when it all happened. That car remained untouched for almost a decade. However, he moved on. Gathering up all his courage, he used the car to send all thirteen of his younger siblings to school, bringing them up as the successful adults they are now. Him as the eldest. Him as a man who understands his responsibilities.

That lady, she’s colour blind, with no husband to comment on her choice of  clothing. Her spouse had passed away for a long time, and they had no children for she was barren. He loved her despite that single flaw, one that would make any woman feel unworthy of herself. So when he went away, she remained depressed for a long period of time. She loved him too much to let him go. Only when she did realise that he’d be torn to see her in such state that she strung herself back up together again. Face the world, and break free from the past that held her in chains.

Humouring isn’t it? How judgemental the human eye can be?

If only people can assess deeper, see the vast spectrum of what beauty really is.

Beauty isn’t perfection. Beauty isn’t objective. Beauty is flawed, scarred, wounded from battles that each and every person fought in their own battlefield. Beauty doesn’t just come from a clear face, or a dapper attire, or a dashing smile, or a melodious laugh. Beauty means more than that. The definition of beauty itself stretches a whole nine yards of effort to be explained, because a single word would never be sufficient to explain what beauty really is.

True beauty, is when you realise that everything has its own value of worth.

That beauty is more than what you see in the mirror, more than this outer shell we call the human body.

Sadly, not many are capable of seeing their very own true beauty.

Themselves.



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