I'm featured over on Jami's blog today, in Powerful Beauty.

It's fun, sometimes, to get caught up in the excitement of making wishlists of the new makeup colors we'd like to buy, the nail polishes we want to get, the things we hope to receive for holiday gifts. But - how much does that shape us? Or how much *should* it? Yes, it's a heck of a lot of fun; but if you get to the point where you're going without food and new shoes so that you can buy the latest Whatzis from Whosis, or paying $300 for a bottle of nail polish on Ebay…then who's in control? (I know a wee bit what I'm talking about. I have a list of over 25 nail polishes I want to buy, and I'm not even a huge nail polish / manicure fan. And I have previously spent hours bouncing back and forth between three MMU sites, making my careful wishlists, and then trying to plan out when I'd buy what I wanted based on their history of having holiday sales…and those plans extended out two months.)

Everyone has a hobby or four. I'm going to guess that most people reading this can include “makeup” as one of their hobbies. That's great! But we all need to realize that we're all a lot more than just our hobbies. Scrangie does lovely manicures and shows us several dozen nail polishes each year, but she's also wickedly funny and very insightful. Erin showcases lots of great makeup looks, but she's also a caring mother and teaches music in public schools (I don't play any more, but I fondly remember my middle-school band and orchestra teacher/conductor. Music teachers don't get enough props, methinks.) Jen is a makeup artist, but she also teaches people how to apply makeup and have fun with it. Brittany reviews products and shares the latest coming out of shows, and she also participates in Operation Beautiful, committing random acts of kindness all over the place. And I have read passing mentions of this person and that who takes time out of their day to send a little gift to a friend - a card, some makeup, some biscuit or cake mix, a little item with a note that says “I was thinking of you, and thought you'd appreciate this.” It can be so easy to focus on what we possess, and what we want to possess, that we don't realize the intangible gifts we have and can share. Those contribute to our beauty and to our power, as much as or even more than the stuff we buy.

Any time you share information - any time you post a tutorial about how to achieve a certain look - any time you review a product or company in a balanced manner (really balanced, not like Fox News' “balanced”) - any time you tell folks where they can find better deals and better values - any time you help someone learn something - even any time you post a look and say “here's something I did that I don't like, I think this is where I went wrong” - you're sharing yourself and your knowledge and your enthusiasm for life. You're demonstrating that it's okay to have fun and experiment, and you're inviting others to come along and do the same. You give power, and you get power in return. There are no losers in that equation. And that's powerful beauty.

Like this entry? Check these out:

or look at other entries tagged with

Share This Page

Comments