Last updated on July 16th, 2023 at 12:02 pm
Inner beauty is very different from outer beauty.
I strive to incorporate both in my photography and art. But in my personal life and in my clients’ lives, it’s vital to recognize and grow our inner beauty as much as we focus on the outer.
You may be asking what does inner beauty look like?
Inner beauty is incredible. As our bodies age, if we listen to our hearts and share the love we feel, inner beauty only grows. There is no limit. There is no race, age, size, or complexion that it’s limited to.
Inner beauty is a beacon directly from your heart. It’s something we all lose sight of at times. If we’re blessed, we have spouses, children, and friends who shine our light back toward us.
Inner beauty is holding your son’s perfect hands in your own aging hands and finding both beautiful. Even with the heinous curling iron burn on your thumb.
Inner beauty is helping a friend through a rough time and reminding them of their own inner beauty when they falter. It’s asking a friend to talk when we can’t arrange our thoughts instead of shutting off our feelings.
Inner beauty is your son walking up to you, holding your blemished un-made face in his hands and saying, “Mommy, you’re boo-tee-ful.”
Inner beauty is lifting your spouse up, just as they lift you back and forth like a seesaw. Inner beauty is knowing that, as a mother, your children see you as a beaming goddess.
Inner beauty is knowing when to walk away from toxic people. Even if they have to be in your life, it’s fighting insults with love or with silence when love won’t work, even when you have counter-insults bursting from your mind.
Inner beauty is loving someone else’s children in a way you never thought possible. It’s the moments when they need comfort, grab your hand, and giggle at an inside joke.
Inner beauty is trusting faith. Whether you believe in God or not. It’s faith that you’re on the right path, even if it’s tumultuous at the moment.
Inner beauty is knowing that you’re still loved even if you’re not the only child.
Inner beauty is laughing at your husband’s story (even if he’s told it before) because he lights up when he tells it, and you can never get enough of seeing him light up.
Inner beauty is wearing what you want and not caring what anyone else thinks about it.
Inner beauty looks like a lot of different things. It’s knowing you won’t always do the best thing.
Sometimes you’ll get these right and sometimes get them wrong, but you’ll try again anyway. It isn’t measured. It doesn’t age. It’s intertwined with your heart and your dreams, and your blessings.
Always remember the words of Kahlil Gibran: “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.”
Iman Woods is an American artist who specializes in pin-up photography. Through a unique and therapeutic process, she’s spent over a decade in perfecting, Iman helps women undo the damage from a negative self-image and unrealistic beauty industry expectations. She helps women embrace their own style of beauty and see themselves in a new light. You can find her on her website, ImanWoods[dot]com.
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