Celebrating the true beauty of an ageing woman
PRINT PAGE
Celebrating the true beauty of an ageing woman
Recently I was offered the opportunity to deeply consider what the true beauty of an ageing woman is, when I came across a photo on social media. It was a photo of two seemingly very old women whose weather-beaten skin was deeply etched with decades of lines and wrinkles, with their wide smiles showing a distinct absence of teeth, but their faces as well as their whole bodies were alive from these beautiful smiles and their laughter. The caption read: “We were young and beautiful but now we are just beautiful.” Their joy-filled smiles certainly had me smiling in response, as I took in what I was seeing and allowed these words to sink in.
I quickly realised, that in the past I may have looked at these women with critical eyes, asking where the beauty was, and there is no doubt that many others would have asked the same. But in this moment, all I could see was the absolute joy emanating from these glorious, toothless smiles, and I could feel a deep love of themselves and each other; it was obvious that their beauty came from the inside, along with a tangible feeling of sisterhood. They may have been two, but in their joy, they felt like one.
And as I observed these two women, some questions arose:
What is beauty for a woman?
Where does it come from?... and …
Who determines what beauty really is, especially for an older woman?
As I was growing up, I don’t know whether I looked at the older women around me and judged them for how they looked on the outside, and whether I considered them to be beautiful or not. My mother was the exception though, because as far as I was concerned, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. And as she aged, in spite of the many life challenges that came her way, her outer beauty remained intact, her face almost wrinkle-less and her hair remaining in its rich colour – except for a few grey hairs – until she passed at 91. It got me to wondering whether it was her actual physical features that spoke to me of her beauty or was it something within her, something that I knew so well, which emanated this beauty and its accompanying light?
Did the beauty I saw in her, come from the inside or was I being swayed by her outer appearance? Was there more to this beauty than I was receiving with my eyes?
What I have finally come to realise, is that, yes, there was a deeper beauty that came from within her and as it did, it lit up and enhanced her undeniable outer beauty, but as I have also discovered, there is more than that, that this deeper beauty is the emanation of the sacredness, the divinity, that we all carry within. This sacredness is innate, not something that we have to strive for, but a settlement that, when lived in connection to, offers us the most enriched way of living, where we hold standards that we will not live lesser than, standards that enhance and honour the beautiful women we naturally are. And it was these standards, that I realise now, that I would observe, when I took in the whole picture of my mother.
I know many older women, who do not consider themselves to be beautiful, and they may never have done so, but there is something about these women that definitely glows from the inside out, something which I am slowly starting to realise, is their true beauty.
It doesn’t matter whether women are young or old, have smooth skin or wrinkles, or greying hair, their inner beauty, the true beauty of a woman, supersedes all that.
Most women, who I speak to, would agree that it is very hard to know what it is to be a woman in this world when everything around us, via the media and perhaps the critical words of others – and ourselves – is trying to convince us that we are not enough as we are; that we need to be this shape or that shape and that our beauty is on the outside, and that we can ‘make’ ourselves beautiful with this product or that one. So, it makes sense that many women – and men – would not be able to find beauty in the photo of the two older women.
Over the years, I have come to see so clearly that we can invest in as many beauty ‘enhancements’ as we choose to, but if inside we are feeling hurt, down, angry, or tired, for example, all these emotions are going to show on the outside, and as everything is energy, they will be seen and felt by those around us.
"We can pretend we’re okay, but denying how we really feel actually doesn’t work, as how we feel oozes out of us and we move it with every footstep; that is an energetic truth, because: “Everything is because of energy.” "
Serge Benhayon An Open Letter to Humanity, digital ed 1, p 3
Even the most beautiful ‘super model’ can look decidedly ‘un-beautiful’ if she is unhappy on the inside – and don’t the tabloids absolutely love capturing those sorts of photos? Perhaps you could take a look in the mirror next time you’re feeling joyful and see how that joy bubbles out of you, especially from your eyes, and then take a look on a day when you’re feeling rather down, angry, or tired and what do you see? In fact, at that moment in time, there will probably be no way that you want to look at the reflection that is mirrored back to you. But I have realised, that in these moments, and there have been many, I am simply avoiding what my body is trying to show me – that something in my life needs attending to and that begins with the reconnection to me.
The fact is, as we age how we look on the outside begins to change; it is inevitable. So, it makes sense, that with the continual media bombardment and perhaps the scars of critical words from others, so many women live with a deep lack of self-worth as I did for many years. We simply feel that we don’t measure up to the pictures of what a woman is supposed to look like, with our inner critic reminding us of this, often.
How different would life be, if we were raised from day one to know the true source of our beauty – that it comes from within, and from this innermost space, a place of sacredness that is the chalice of the essence of what we truly are, flows everything we need to live as a fully claimed and eternally beautiful woman. When we live and move from this innate sacredness within us all, we move everything that we are, not just for us but for everyone.
There is a saying that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ but I have come to realise that the eye is heavily influenced by society’s ideals and beliefs around ageing, as well as the owner of the ‘eye’s’ own life experiences.
With this realisation resonating through every particle of this beautiful 76-year-old body, I would like to re-write this saying from the lived wisdom of an older woman, for all women, of every age.
True beauty comes first and foremost from the deeply sacred innermost being of a woman; it shines from our innermost out and therefore, it is always there for everyone to see, to feel and to appreciate, equally so.
And if we are unable to see the true beauty of an ageing woman, what a priceless opportunity we are being offered to explore what it is in within ourselves, that is blocking us from celebrating this most rich and beautiful view.
"Understand that sacredness is at the core of being; it is your be-ingness. And therefore, each and every part of your body holds a depth of delicateness that is beyond human. So, go ahead and reclaim your sacredness; you will then enrich us all with more than we are."
Serge Benhayon Teachings & Revelations for The Livingness Volume III, ed 1, p 284
Filed under
Ageing, Beauty myths, Sacredness
