thoughts on looks
beauty and attraction go beyond surface appearances.
i stumbled upon this section of reddit where people submit photos of themselves and get rated according to attractiveness.
why people do this i don't know — to get opinion and find ways to improve their appearances? ego stroking? plain curiosity?
looks are important – alright – but there's other qualities like personality, confidence, intelligence, and decency. heck, there are successful musicians/celebrities you wouldn't consider good-looking. and yet they're very awesome people.
this is jean-paul sartre, one of my favorite people, er, minds.
i did post a photograph of myself – but eventually deleted it, haha. per people's opinion, i'm in the 4-6 range. not trying at all, i go below average in terms of attractiveness. and i am okay with that. on my best days, i'm a 5.5.
i'm fine with that.
i mean, i don't even think about my looks anymore, on most days, because i am more occupied with my mental health. and daily survival. and existential problems. so it doesn't really matter if i don't look like a supermodel, because i don't need to look like a supermodel.
but anyway. because of that sub i plucked my eyebrows, put a dab of makeup, and combed my hair. it made me conscious. it made me want to feel and look beautiful.
no, it's not for strangers on the internet or the general public. not for passers by who give me a quick rating in their heads. it's for me. it doesn't matter how other people think of my looks. what's important is what i think about myself.
self-perception is big deal. like, there's really good-looking people who still battle with body image issues.
being objectively beautiful (being a 8-10) doesn't guarantee an awesome life and good mental health. these two are separate things. in being objectively beautiful though, you can count on some things like, a modeling contract, people's attention, lots of messages in dating apps, and likes on social media.
and again, i don't need that.
as long as my partner thinks i'm pretty (and i think i'm prettier than his ex), i'll be at peace. otherwise, i'll be compensating on other things, like intelligence, athleticism, independence, morality, ethics.
some days i couldn't care less about my face at all. it only mattered how far i could paddle out to, how many waves i could catch. how good was the surf.
in my surf trips i don't even bring a mirror. sometimes i find one in the bathroom and surprise myself to see how much i've changed...tanned, sunburnt, face red and peeling...
and i'm happy, full of life, excited about the good things to come — and that's more important, in so many levels, than just sitting pretty with nothing really going on in your life.
beauty and attraction go beyond surface appearances.