Posts tagged with “beauty”
How to Be Like a Tree: Still, Strong, and Uniquely Beautiful
“This oak tree and me, we’re made of the same stuff.” ~Carl Sagan
I was hugging trees long before it was cool.
Recent research suggests that spending time in nature can reduce your blood pressure, heart rate, and stress level, not to mention cut down your risk of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature death.
But when I began hugging trees, it was an undeniably weird thing to do.
I risked the odd looks of strangers, however, because trees felt so calm and welcoming to me. When I wrapped my arms around their broad trunks, it felt like I …
Why We Need to Stop Hiding and Share the Beauty in Our Brokenness
“Out of perfection nothing can be made. Every process involves breaking something up. The earth must be broken to bring forth life. If the seed does not die there is no plant. Bread results from the death of wheat. Life lives on lives. Our own life lives on the act of other people. If you are lifeworthy, you can take it.” ~Joseph Campbell
Head on my pillow, tears in my eyes, a list of to-dos in my brain, I felt unable to move my body. I’d worked so hard to leave behind this person who stayed in bed avoiding life. …
What Helped Me Love and Accept My Imperfect Body
“You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” ~Amy Bloom
“Just look at yourself!”
“That chubby face, those massive hips and thighs. The stumpy legs.”
“No wonder he doesn’t love you anymore. No wonder he left you for her! She is so much prettier than you are.”
I stood in front of the mirror. Tears streamed down my face. My body was shaking uncontrollably as I stared at it in disgust.
Resentment and anger accumulated in my chest. Heavy, dark, and painful, the all-consuming emotions tried to crush me. My throat felt tight, I couldn’t breathe, my …
Life Is in the Little Things: Finding the Extra in the Ordinary
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.“ ~Jimmy Johnson
“Write about what we did today,” my daughter said. She knows I often write once she is asleep.
Dully I thought, “What we did today wasn’t that exciting.” Yet, for her, it obviously was.
She gets lost in her experiences, deeply entrenched in the realms of her imagination that continue to weave each experience she is having.
From my perspective, I took the kids and their friends to a nature reserve so they could get muddy and play. I needed them outside, away from the house where cabin …
How to Feel Good In Your Skin: 7 Powerful Lessons on Beauty
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” ~Proverb
I struggled with body image for years while I was living in Europe because I have a very fair complexion, oily skin, and thin hair.
During my childhood, people would look at me and comment on how pale I looked and ask my mother if I was anemic. Later on, as I was growing up, people who met me would ask if I was ill, or they would say that I look exhausted, tired, and weak.
It was most difficult during the summers, when there was always a social pressure …
How Life Becomes More Beautiful When We Stop Anticipating the Worst
“Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.” ~Louis L’Amour
These days I live in the city, but I spent my childhood in a rural English village. It was quaint and quiet and rather lovely—the sort of place you’re desperate to leave when you’re young and full of fire, but begin to hanker for when you get a little older.
Back then, to get to the local school, I had to walk down a long, winding country lane, which had rolling fields on both sides. For half …
Natural Beauty Is Accepting Yourself, Just as You Are
“When you are balanced and when you listen and attend to the needs of your body, mind, and spirit, your natural beauty comes out.” ~Christy Turlington
It wasn’t until I stopped wearing makeup that I realized the hypocrisy in every “natural beauty” ad. Be natural, wear a mask, they say. Unleash your confidence by hiding your flaws, they say.
If only it were so simple.
My struggle with body image began at age five. That was the first time I threw up to make myself feel thin.
I began to heal four years ago after I almost killed myself. All …
Loving Yourself When You’re Too Fat, Too Skinny, Too Tall, or Too Short
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” ~Henry David Thoreau
Living in NYC, I have seen some crazy and outrageous things. So, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see an ad in the subway that read, “Overcome Your Bikini Fears. Breast Augmentation Made In NY: $3,900,” or another ad from the same plastic surgery office that showed a picture of a woman looking sad, holding a pair of small tangerines in front of her breasts, and the same woman looking happy holding grapefruits, with the same caption, “Breast Augmentation Made in NY: $3,900.”
Still, I …
You Are Beautiful; Can You See It?
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” ~Confucius
This is my sister Cindy and me when we were little. If you look closely you may be able to tell that Cindy has Down Syndrome. This was a long time ago and one of my most favorite pictures. I am now fifty-eight and Cindy would be sixty this month.
I followed Cindy into this world and I was with her three years ago when she left. I am who I am in this world because of Cindy. She taught me all of the most important things about life through being …
The Zen of Coloring: 7 Lessons on Living a Happy, Mindful Life
“The hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’ve been into mindfulness for a long time but having never been much of an artist, the mindfulness coloring craze had bypassed me until recently.
I brought a book and some colored pencils to keep me amused during a recent train trip but enjoyed it so much I’ve continued the habit—and to my surprise, the work I’ve done looks quite good!
I’d heard that mindful coloring is good for reducing stress levels and being more present, but I found even more benefits. For example, …
Look for the Good and You Will Find It
“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” ~John Lubbock
Have you ever noticed how as human beings, we tend to go negative?
Looking out into the world, we see the crumpled fast food bag in the street and the torn curtain in the window.
Looking into the mirror, we see the pores and dark circles under our eyes. We see the freckles and miss the dimple, or we hate the dimple and miss the smile.
Our eyes focus in on what’s wrong.
I’ve noticed it’s hard to undo this tendency in myself, though sometimes the veil drops …
We Don’t Need to “Fix” Our Appearance to Be Beautiful
“Kindness and awareness work together. Through awareness we understand the underlying beauty of everything and every being.” ~Amit Ray
We were in Yorkshire—my brother, sister, and I—driving along narrow, windy roads. Sometimes we would come up a steep incline and be unable to see the rest of the road until we got to the crest. It was a little bit scary.
It could have been worse, but that night it was a full moon and even though it was almost midnight, there was a great deal of light in the darkness. We were not normally out that late but had …
You Were (and Are) More Beautiful Than You Think
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” ~Kahlil Gibran
Does a loved one have a favorite photo of you? A photo by their bedside or on their screensaver that reminds them of a special time and place and memory?
Can I also hazard a guess that this isn’t your favorite photo of yourself? I bet you look at yourself critically and dislike how your face looks, or maybe your body is not cast in its most flattering light. I was reminded of this recently, and it made me think of how I view photos …
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