I recently wrote a post in which I reflected on how empowering it is for a woman to realize that their desire to go to all ends to be beautiful, even if it does mean going through extremes, might have to do with an inherent, general desire to create beauty. Isn’t it so much nicer to think that we want to be beautiful as an expression of an inherence creative capacity to contribute to the beauty of society?

In the context of a world that clearly needs beautifying, be it at the level of the environment or of social relationships, isn’t it great to know that more than half the population has this inherent capacity to contribute to the betterment of the world?

Of course, there remains the fact that we women need to remain moderate in our desire to create beauty. When one looks, for example, at the portrayal of beauty in the media (based on physical beauty), one can easily become dragged into a lifetime pursuit of a beauty that is, ironically enough, not attainable. All the time and energy we pour into our physical beauty takes away from time and energy we could put in other forms of beauty: our emotional beauty, our spiritual beauty, the beauty of our room, our home, our neighborhood, etc.

I am not saying that we should embrace a lifestyle in which women should not spend any money on beauty and care products; rather, I am saying that we should be careful not to let the forces of society that compel us to think, obsessively and unreasonably, only about our physical beauty.

The question becomes: how can we not fall prey to these negative forces in society? I think it might have to do with channeling. For example, if one craves something sweet, one can, instead of junk food, choose something healthy but just as sweet and satisfying. It’s actually a great tip for those who are trying to decrease the amount of junk food in their diet without forgoing the sometimes soothing pleasure of indulging a sweet craving.

In the case of beauty, it would meant that, as a woman with an inherent, strong desire to create beauty, I can either go to the extremes of spending the bulk of my money (or even more) on beauty products and procedures, or I could moderate those expenses and instead work at the same time on creating beauty in my home, in my head and in my soul.

Interestingly enough, doing so might make us feel beautiful, and as we all know, feeling beautiful is the one thing that, eventually, makeup and intensive exercise and surgeries can’t give us. And there is nothing more beautiful than a woman who is well taken care of and glowing from a deep sense happiness, intimately linked to her inner beauty.

Photo Courtesy of Nadja Mikkonen Photography (& Blog)