Beauty

What is beauty?

Beauty is happiness.

Beauty has varied throughout time, various cultures and the vast different
perceptions of the world. Beauty has been described and depicted through
pictures and concepts penetrating our minds. Beauty has been defined in so
many ways. What I have discovered is that beauty is simple. Beauty is
happiness.

It’s the images and moments that inspire and represent the most distinct and
remarkable attractiveness of our souls. It’s the moments we feel free and real.
It’s the moments we feel proud and eminent. It’s the moments we feel alive. It
seems like that element should be inherent, but it isn’t.

Beauty is often distorted, misunderstood and shadowed by a wide amount of

conflicting pressures. It is something we endlessly strive for, rather than see in
the true essence of our happiest moments.

I think of the times I’ve been most happy and whether or not those align with
common beauty standards. It hasn’t been the nights my hair stayed intact, body
dressed attractively, or skin shined flawlessly. It’s been the moments I felt
beauty because of happiness, which was not derived from my appearance — at
all.

I love the beauty that pulsates through my body with my lover’s hand on the
back of my messy hair, and lips pressed against mine. I love the beauty of how I
feel on the beach, with my hair stuck to my face by the salty ocean water and
the way my skin feels being touched by the sand and sun. I love the beauty of
my sweaty face and squealing voice as I belt out lyrics at a concert. I love
photos that capture my beauty during unrehearsed moments. These are the
times when I feel most beautiful because I’m alive, not because of what an
exterior image has brainwashed me to believe.

Diogo Oliveira, 11ºG

01/10/2018