Ugly Face

This is probably going to sound really cliche, but today I was thinking about beauty and it really hit me that what makes someone memorably beautiful is not just how they look but who they are.  We all grow up hearing that true beauty is on the inside, and while I have always agreed, I have never stopped to think about what this means to me.

Like most women, I have spent too much time worrying about how I look, but I have never stopped to think about how who I am affects this perception.  The women that are most beautiful to me are the ones whose inner beauty shines.  Likewise, the men that are least attractive to me are the ones that have "ugly souls," regardless of outer appearance.

As silly as it may sound, thinking about what I see as beauty in others is changing how I strive to cultivate beauty in myself.  I would much rather be remembered for my inner beauty than my outer appearance.  Moreover, it seems that the truer your inner beauty, the less you care at all about how others perceive you, inside or out.  I want to get there.  I'm trying to get there, but I still find myself critical of my outward appearance in most pictures that cross my path.

Maybe the first step to letting go of the importance of how people perceive you is by broadcasting to the world your ugliest face?

An old friend of mine recently began doing temporary street installations in LA called Ugly Face, where she projects "ugly" faces onto the walls of buildings in public spaces (http://uglyfacewednesdays.tumblr.com/).  I admire her for challenging our cultural obsession with outer beauty.  Seeing her facebook posts tonight got me thinking about all of this.  So in honor of an old friend, here is my ugly face.  I will admit, it took effort to try and not find a way to be cute while being ugly.  I found myself trying to pick the cutest of my ugly faces, which made me realize that I wasn't doing it right.

So here are my ugliest.  Stephanie you have my permission to have my ugly faces.  Thanks for reminding me to laugh at myself and not take how others might perceive me so seriously.  You rock.

Yes, I'm still wearing my jacket and scarf as I blog on my couch.  I may be too tired to change clothes, my initial excuse was that it was cold when I got home, but the heater has been on for an hour and I haven't moved...