Beauty is the Eye of the Beholder! - Sincerity.

Hi there! Did you enjoy your day so far?
Over here in The Wetlands there is a storm blowing... It is beautiful, in a way, but it's a dangerous beauty.
When I walked Gina I saw quite a few trees that had been blown over, due to their crowns being too heavy from the tons of rain we've had all day yesterday.

Today I want to write to you about beauty. And it ties into the 18 Ities I have been writing about for the last couple of weeks. The 4th Ity is Sincerity. And I happen to believe that beauty and sincerity in humans are linked very closely together.
To be sincere, is to be real, and to be true to yourself. And sincere people have a certain glow, an outer aura that shines through because of their inner convictions.
If you get my drift. I like to think that I am sincere. I know I have been called boring because of my sincerity...Well, what can I say? Judge for yourself.

Beauty is complex. You can have the beauty associated with top models, who have beautiful faces and beautiful bodies (and beautiful bank balances), but this beauty can be all show and rather empty.
And besides that, it can give us, ordinary un-beautiful women, a feeling of inadequacy. 
No need!!!!
I am going to show you, right here, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And that people, even people with wrinkles, illnesses and/or tottering bank balances can indeed be called beautiful as well.

An example. Look at this photo (taken by Wibe Koopman):

What do you see? A young woman in a field of frothy flowers. Is she beautiful? I think so, I think she's gorgeous, but then I am biased, this is my daughter.

You could argue that she looks cross. Does that make her less beautiful? Would the knowledge that she's a loving person make her look less cross in your eyes? Or the fact that she was explicitly told not to smile?

Another example.

This woman is bald. Baldness is thought of as ugly, unattractive, especially in a woman. In men it is more accepted, especially now that shaving your head is in vogue in my country.

But what makes this woman beautiful? For I think she is! It is the look in her eyes, the slight smile on her lips, her dignity.

This woman has cancer, so she has lost her hair. I found her photo on the Internet (where else), and I wanted to show it to you. It is an initiative which helps women with cancer feel that they are more than their illness. So, in itself, this initiative is beautiful as well.

Here's another example.

Gorgeous, isn't she?

Now: how about this one.

Yep. A woman with a beard.  

I can hear you think: OMG, a woman with a beard!! And I must admit, when I saw her for the first time, last night on TV, my first reaction was this: "Oh...really...what's next?"  But then she opened her mouth, and what came out was so beautifully sung that I forgot all my reservations. And her eyes showed that she was singing her heart out with sincerity.

And within seconds I had accepted that beard. As I said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

She is in the race for the Eurovision Song Contest, her name is Conchita Wurst, and there have been countries that wanted her disqualified for being a disgrace. Namely: a transgender with a beard. 

I say: shame on those countries! I see a beauty, who happens to sing the stars out of the sky. 

Obviously I still root for The Common Linnets. But if they cannot win, I hope Conchita will.