Redefining beauty: Just say no to ageism & get your glow on.

Hello Beautiful.

Yes, I’m talking to you. You, me, we, and all of our kindred spirits — we seriously need to redefine beauty. And our new definition of beauty is NOT age-related or looking-like-how-everybody-else-seems-to-define-beauty related or looking like a small ridiculously narrowly defined culturally determined idea of what feminine beauty should look like. Because that’s just stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Isn’t it time for redefining beauty standards?

Because… beauty is you.

And it’s me. And it’s every woman you know. Because beauty is something that emanates from within beautiful souls. It’s effervescent and illuminating. And, by the way, this is what it’s not — it’s not your color of eyes-hair-skin, or the shape of your face-eyes-nose-breasts-ass. It’s that vibrant glow. And it comes from the passion you feel for all that you love.

So, what’s my story?

As I am writing this post, I’m in my early 60’s. Around age 55 I started to see some wholesale changes in my appearance, my energy, my joie de vivre. I started to feel old, and I started to feel invisible — as a woman, as a professional, as a contributor to society overall. On top of that, I hit a new brick wall called ageism — both in the workplace and in the cultural norm we subscribe to. So, I started changing my hair, my makeup, my wardrobe, my style — but not in a good way — in a way that I hoped would make me look less old, less unimportant, less undesirable. Ugh.

So I turned inward to redefine what beauty is to me.

And I started on a life-changing journey to discover my own kind of beauty, whatever that might mean. And, girl, did I dig deep. I meditated. I journaled. I cried. And then I gave up.

I gave up and shifted my focus to figuring out why I felt the need to hide behind a mask of sorts and cover up my evolving self. Why I felt shame about looking older. And this was important to me, because, surprise, surprise, I figured I wasn’t going to get any younger by applying the right kind of make-up or look like my 30-year-old, or 40-year-old, or even 50-year-old self again or (let’s be honest) EVER look like a model in a magazine. I needed to redefine beauty for my own wellbeing.

And when I turned inward I felt I needed to explore my creative self, and to look long and hard at what I found beautiful in the world; be it in nature, on a canvas, in music I loved, or the people I meet, know, and love, and so on and so on. The intention was to focus on what brings me joy. And, well, I feel like after I made this inner shift, I got my glow on. And that, my beautiful friend, is what I believe beauty is all about. It’s not about looking beautiful; it’s not even about feeling beautiful — it’s about noticing, evoking, creating, appreciating, and immersing yourself in true authentic beauty.

Define your own beautiful.

Now that doesn’t mean I don’t take care of myself. I do. But I also believe healthy and happy is beautiful. And of course, glowing skin is beautiful. Adornment can be beautiful too, as long as you’re doing it for you, not in spite of you. Expressing yourself in your own unique way is 100% beautiful. Create your own style. Wear those colors that make you feel the spark. Get a swirly skirt and all kinds of glitter and make up your eyes like a peacock if that’s what makes you feel alive. Just don’t do it to cover up your evolving beauty — do it to enhance and celebrate it.

Get your glow on.

So, in summary — I say let’s change the very definition of what it is to be beautiful. Personally, I’m evolving into my own definition of beauty and I’m loving it. Just find and dig into your joy and get your glow on. How’s that sound, beautiful? I think it sounds like great fun.