as a woman married to a woman, beauty is a part of my every day life.
it can be found everywhere. in every little nook & cranny of the little apartment that my love and i share. there is an awareness of beauty in almost everything we share. from lighting candles on any ole regular tuesday night, to eating breakfast together at the dinner, to decorating and creating a sanctuary in our home, to the sheets that we put on the bed, to the colors we choose to have on display, to the music that we play, to the inspirational words and pictures we hang on our walls. beauty is found in how we understand each other, listen to each other, talk to each other, dream with each other, learn and explore with each other.
of course, my wife is beauty herself.
and while i honor the physical beauty that she adds to this world, i am aware that her beauty is most definitely not only skin deep. her true beauty is that which radiates from her soul. and whether she knows it or not, people all around her know that they are in the presence of beauty when she is near.
yes, beauty is an awareness.
it is a moment that comes to you, and you find yourself closing your eyes, breathing deeply, and soaking up whatever it is that you see, hear, feel.
i believe that all of life is beautiful. and the woman who finds the courage to open her eyes, her heart, her mind, her soul to experience and share that beauty with the world… well, that is a beautiful woman.
i think i learned what beauty is from a woman, from the women in my life. i took little bits & pieces from each of them, adding & building onto myself as the years have passed by. my mom’s belief in equality & justice & the importance of family. my cousin’s funky individuality. my sister-inlaw’s creativity. my other cousin’s dedication to learning. and countless of women friends, mentors, & co-workers who inspire me simply because of who they are. but, it was when i married my wife, that i began to truly see beauty everywhere. i think that’s because it was the first time i began to see beauty within me.
for 8 eight years i was married to a man. a very nice man. a kind man. but, a man who was not right for me. not because he was a man, but because we could not provide each other with a beautiful life. we had plenty of good & lovely moments. and we had plenty of difficult, painful, and ugly moments. some of the most ugly moments i could imagine. more ugly than i had ever imagined actually. and i felt ugly. i felt unworthy. so, i searched and searched for something to fill myself with. i wanted a life of beauty, but i didn’t know what that was. i longed for true beauty (inside and outside). what i really longed for was to know myself. to be true to myself.
finally, the stars lined up right. i found courage. the heavens opened up and sent me a message. i found inspiration. whatever it was, something happened. and i began to believe in beauty again. i began to seek that which my soul cried out for. and then, as if i was truly living and breathing for the first time, everything became beautiful. i mean everything. even the difficult moments became pathways beauty.
meeting my wife just when i began to understand what it means to be a beautiful woman, and just when i began to understand that i was one, caused the doors to the world to swing wide open. colors were more vibrant. life became more simple. love encompassed everything.
for the first time, i understood what made something beautiful. what made someone beautiful. it was simple and honest. beauty was not complicated or self-made. beauty simply was an expression of the soul. the beauty of a woman was found in the freedom of a woman to be true to herself.
and so, hand in hand, embarking on a new life together, a new & beautiful life, my love and i decided to live a life filled with beautiful things. and what that means most to u,s is that we chose to live life from our souls. to be who we are. unique. weird. funny. crazy. quiet. hipster. hippie.
because the true beauty of a woman comes from the woman who chooses to true to her self.
* this blog post is written in conjunction with the beauty of a woman blogfest. an opportunity for bloggers to share their thoughts, ideas, and inspirations on beauty with each other. a beautiful idea in itself! click here to read more entries beginning tomorrow, february 22, 2013.
LOVE this! Here’s to deliciously unlimited, simplistically pure soulful expressions of beautiful hearts everywhere… xo
Touching post, Liz! I love the fact that you see and appreciate beauty everywhere around you, including within the “little things.” I read a quote today that essentially seeing beauty in everything makes you an artist. DONE! 🙂 Thanks so much for participating again! <3
Liz! This is stunning! I love this:
“And then, as if i was truly living and breathing for the first time, everything became beautiful. i mean everything. even the difficult moments became pathways beauty.”
I’m so pleased that you found the courage to go off-roading and find true love. Lovely.
Very touching post, perfect for today!
Lovely!!
That is a beautiful post! Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
If only we could exchange the word BEAUTY with HONESTY in all the commercials and marketing campaigns. Maybe then we could teach the next generation that to be themselves is to be beautiful.
Yes, YES! We can recognize beauty when we see it in ourselves, first! Great post.
Yes, YES! We will finally come to recognize beauty everywhere, when we first see it in ourselves. Great post.
You summed it up perfectly right here: “beauty is found in how we understand each other, listen to each other, talk to each other, dream with each other, learn and explore with each other.” Truly a beautiful life, no matter what the outside trappings are!
Beauty is awareness–love that. 🙂
This is super rad. Enjoyed it greatly
This is something I’m trying to teach my high school students…you can’t really love others until you love yourself. This is what you have achieved! Thank you for sharing!
This is such a heart felt post – and how brave AND beautiful you are to step away from the ugliness in your life and find the true beauty in yourself, and your life. My mother always said the same, that we must love ourselves first before we can love others. I think once we do, our love must then shine out as a beacon of happiness to others embracing them. I wrote about something similar in my BOAW post too. Glad to have met up with you here!
Dear Readers,
I will be sure to comment on each of your comments soon. I also look forward to reading each of your posts! Seeing as i am in Berlin this weekend, I will not get it done until Monday sometime. But I wanted to let y’all know that your comments mean so much to me. And that fact that you share your thoughts inspires me.
Have a great weekend!
Liz xo
“because the true beauty of a woman comes from the woman who chooses to true to her self.” So true. Thank you for sharing.
Such a beautiful post Liz. Thank you and have a fun time in Berlin!
Liz I am a new fan of your blog! Such a beautiful post and ode to your wife. To your relationship really. It’s lovely how finding yourself gave you awareness to find your wife and be happy. I especially loved “Colors were more vibrant. Life became more simple. Love encompassed everything.”
Wow! I’m reaching for the tissue box. This is sheer poetry.
What a beautiful, heart swelling post. 🙂 I am so glad you found your beautiful life. 🙂
A beautiful and insightful post, Liz. Thank you for sharing this and helping to make the BOAW Blogfest even more brilliant.
You are amazing! And you’ve been nominated! http://mellywilliams.com/2013/02/24/roll-out-the-red-carpet-ive-been-nominated-liebster-blog-award/
What a lovely written post! Beauty is a woman who chooses to be true to herself..I like that.
“… the true beauty of a woman comes from the woman who chooses to be true to her self.”
Intimate, poignant, heartfelt post. I admire your courage and conviction. They’re beautiful