Beauty for More than Beholding

There is little more encouraging to a woman “of a certain age” than to be told, time and again, “Wow! You’re very beautiful.”

Because, let’s face it, as women, we desire that. We desire to be found beautiful. To be admired.

If we’re fortunate, we grow up having our dads say something like that. And our moms. I can remember having my dad come home after a business trip, pick me up, and swing me around, asking, “How’s my little princess?”

I don’t get tired of it. I don’t.

But then again, I do get tired of it. Because there is so much more. And beauty, as they say, is only skin deep. I want someone to get under my skin. To find out, like Jacques Cousteau, what lies beneath the surface. Because, like the ocean, it is in the deep where the real beauty lies. Where all the interesting and fascinating things are.

I love beautiful things. Because I like to look at beautiful things. It’s something about us. We like beauty.

But really, it doesn’t matter how attractive you are. I’ve met some astonishingly beautiful women. Some were anything but beautiful under the surface. They had a beauty that may not fade with age, but it sure faded away once they opened their mouths. Yuck. Nice to look at, but that was about it. I don’t want to know anymore.

I don’t want to get to know you because you’re beautiful. You’re far more beautiful because I know you.

There is a beauty that is pleasing to the eye. But there is a far greater beauty that is pleasing to the soul. That’s the beauty I want. I want to have it. I want to see it. I want to know it. In myself, and in my friends.

I don’t want to just admire you. I want to know you.

*****

I’m joining up with the delightful Holley Gerth for her series, “Coffee for Your Heart.” You can read about it by clicking on the illustration at the top, and read more entries (or link up yourself) here.