Beauty

​Beauty
It was my turn to randomly pick a word from the dictionary.  My finger fell on the word “beauty.”
That seems to be a biggy in this day and age, judging by the number of ads on tv promoting beauty products.  Most are directed at women, but men can be pretty vain.  My favourite cologne is Blue Stratus.  I reckon it is a chick magnet.  But I am inclined to clam up when women start talking of the attractiveness of the likes of Paul Newman or Chris Hemsworth.  I would much rather talk about Kathrine Zeta Jones.
The definition talked about “skin deep” and it really does seem to me so much of the attraction to women is a skin-deep thing.  It is probably just as well that sort of thing seems to matter less to women then to men.  Of course, the jack pot is hit sometimes, and people are seen as a “beautiful couple.” 
But often that is the exception.  I have been amazed at what I see sometimes.  But beautiful men can start out beautiful and then there is more to love in really odd places.  Still, you can tell a man is on the level if his bubble is in the middle.
I do reckon that skin deep thing matters though.  It sounds all idyllic, but I do think beauty is measured by more.  Some of who I consider are the most beautiful people I know have a beauty that is not manifest in their physique.  All the better if it is, but a trip to the shopping centre invariably reveals that for most, attraction is based on more than physical appearance.
It really is something on the inside.  There are “beautiful” people I would not want to go near with a ten-foot pole.  There are others who are otherwise.  It is not like (though it can be) the attraction is physical first, but it is the gracious words that come from the mouth.  Sometimes it is something said that is useful, or it can be something that is interesting.  Whatever the case I enjoy their company.
Someone summing me up said you are not ugly but not a looker.  I reckon that is about right.  Generally, I do not come first and I do not come last.  I’m a part of the field.  To me what matters most is not coming first or last but being a part of the race.  Personal bests rather than being the best matter most to me.
I enjoyed the movie Gattaca.  Someone physically inferior wanted to do space travel but they only accepted physically superior people.  A friend who was physically superior but was confined to a wheelchair because of an accident helped him achieve his dream.  Yet as he boarded the spacecraft the person who accept him revealed that he could tell but accepted him anyway.
That movie said heaps to me.  It coincides with my being against algorithms determining eligibility.   People come in all shapes and sizes and sometimes I do not meet the criteria set.  Yet I can be the perfect person for the role.
At one place I lived I was told someone wanted to be a nurse.  I thought “you are not a nurse.”  I am of the opinion that what we are is revealed by how we act and what we say.  Physical beauty may be seen as important but wait there’s more - inner beauty really does win the day for me.