R Is For RADIANCE

We all have an inner radiance, I was reminded recently that no matter how much I may have issues with my appearance, when the inner light, the inner beauty shines out it doesn’t matter. It can be a hard understanding to swallow, especially when the majority of the world highlights the importance of outer beauty, but slowly I am beginning to see my own light shine out, regardless of any perceived ‘imperfections’ I may feel I have.

For the purpose of this post I am going to post images of people who many may view as not stereotypically attractive or beautiful yet I can clearly see this radiant beauty shining out.

Ageing Beauty

I feel so many of us as we grow older are given the feeling that it’s all downhill from here. I know I have been told this story of ageing throughout my life and rarely is ageing seen as a gift, or that the lines on someone’s face reveal a map of adventure, life’s explorations and the journeys we all take, be it easy or hard. The skin creases, the lines form, the body changes shape and yet the inner light, the bright star that we all are shines through these vessels we chose before we incarnated into this life.

We can choose to age gracefully or fight against the aging vessel that creation uses to express itself out into this world. We can look in the mirror like I  have recently and scream ‘Who is that? That is not me?’ and fight against the changes taking place or reframe it and see that yes, that is not me, because who I really am never changes. I am the light beyond the surface of my physical body.

Smiles And Light Shining Bright

Some people look down on children or people with Down’s syndrome, but most people I know experience people with Down’s syndrome as beautiful, loving, joy-filled human beings. Just look at the photo below of the little girl. She radiates the light of the entire world.

And look at the tribal woman, no hair, holes in her ears, gaps in teeth and yet that smile, oh that smile… what a radiant woman she is.

And in celebration of myself, even though I have dismissed, criticised and resisted my changing form, even so far as hating my appearance, I now am beginning to see my light so I shall share this light below…

Perfectionism

I know it’s easier said than done, but perfectionism is the killer of beauty. We look in the mirror comparing ourselves with others or we walk along the street and we see a young woman all fresh, youthful and with a pert butt and body and we compare, we think that woman is perfect because of our conditioning and brainwashing, but it’s not true. Yes it is true in a sense as being human is perfect, but she probably dislikes parts of herself too, and so perfectionism kills that beauty. She too has aspects of herself she sees as flaws.

Now radiance, this grows from within. This is often why you meet a beautiful older woman (or man) who has lived her life and does not care what other people think any-more, she walks and talks with inner freedom, the light behind her eyes shines and you see her beauty. She meets people warmly and gifts them with her insight and love, people walk away feeling blessed and accepted. She dropped her perfectionist tendencies years ago when she realised she was not only acceptable, but beautiful as she is, right now.

This is a long journey for many people, especially women, we have been programmed to believe beauty is youth and that age has no beauty, especially in the West. In tribal society elders are wise and revered, in the West unfortunately they are not, but hopefully this is now changing.