beauty is in the eye of the beholder

G R A C I E

Every day I get such a kick out of watching my Gracie as she carefully applies and reapplies her cute pink lip gloss (that magically disappeared from my purse and reappeared in hers). She will hold a small make up mirror to her lips and look at it over and over making sure it is just right, then dance around and talk and act like she is so grown up as she walks around in my high-heels (never, ever if she knows someone is watching. I have to be very sneaky).

She has such a passion and interest for beauty, hair and make up. Every day she carefully plans what she's going to wear, how her hair will be done, and what color lip gloss she will wear. I seem to "lose" every lip gloss I ever buy and then they suddenly show up in one of Gracie's many purses. My high heel shoes seem to always be scattered in random places around the house.

She loves to put on make-up when I let her (she's actually quite good at it) and she loves to watch me get ready in the morning. She asks question after question of what I'm wearing from shoes to accessories, how I'm going to do my hair and make up, tells me how cute I look (I don't mind that) , and then always so sweetly asks she can have some make-up too. To which I reply, "You're too beautiful, I can't let you wear make-up too! Make-up is just too help mommy's not look so tired." To which she replies, " Oh, you should put some more right there by your eyes."

As she sat with me again this morning I started thinking about what I am teaching my girls about beauty. What does it mean to be beautiful? I read a quote I really liked in an interesting book I'm reading called Eating for Beauty:

"Many people are out in the world trying to 'get' beautiful. One cannot go out and get beautiful, because beauty is not something you get! Beauty is something you earn by refining the type of person you are becoming. The beautification process is about becoming the type of person who can be beautiful. If you want to become beautiful you have to become that type of person on the inside first and then attract beauty to you."

I am realizing this "becoming that type of person" to be so true from our spiritual growth even down to what food we put in our bodies. I do think it's fun to put fun outfits together, to try new hairdo's and hair colors, to wear a little make-up to accent the beauty we have, but I don't want it to mean everything to me or them. I hope I am showing them that by spending minimal time getting ready in the morning (or afternoon) and having many days where I don't wear makeup at all (not necessarily on purpose) , and wearing my paint clothes or work-out clothes all day long. I hope I am showing them it's about being a beautiful person inside, becoming the type of person we want to be and letting it show by what we do. I want them to feel beautiful because of the divine beauty within them. I hope I can teach them how to let that beauty grow and shine.

Anyways, this book is making me think a lot. And Gracie makes me smile a lot! I might have to write more about it another time. For now, here's to becoming a beautiful person inside!