Billy Coffey
Billy Coffey

Beautiful

March 29, 2010  

image courtesy of photobucket.com
image courtesy of photobucket.com

My daughter is slowly coming to the realization that looks mean something in this world, and that it’s a very big something, and that she wants to be beautiful. I can’t blame her. I think we all want to be beautiful in some way or another, whether it’s in looks or talent or spirituality.

Unfortunately, what modern society defines as “beautiful” and what “beautiful” actually means are two different things. Sometimes it isn’t easy to explain this, especially when the person you’re trying to explain it to is eight years old. But I’m trying and I’ll continue to try.
As far as I can tell, it’s the Navajo who have the best way of determining who is beautiful and who isn’t. Their method is pretty common in that they hold their own annual beauty pageant. But the competitions in that pageant are…well, different.
To hear what brought about all this discussion of beauty in our house (and a little more of the Miss Navajo Nation contest), please follow me over to katdish’s blog. Like me, maybe you’ll see beauty in a different way.
A better way.
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Comments

  • Barbara Frazier

    Billy, give your daughter a hug for me and tell her I think she is beautiful on the inside and outside. God has big plans for that little girl! The first blessing He gave her was you for her Daddy to help her along and share all that wisdom He gave you.

  • http://lorilundquist@blogspot.com Lori Lundquist

    I think beautiful is a given because God created each of us. Stewarding our beauty is another thing, and mismanagement can cause us to look ugly or behave in an ugly way. But beautiful is automatic because it is God-given.

  • http://insidethewritersstudio.wordpress.com Inside the Writers’ Studio

    Will your daughter be watching Jessica Simpson’s series on beauty standards in different parts of the world? It might be something she would enjoy, and that will also help communicate what you want to teach her. Best of luck! It ain’t easy bein’ female. ;)

  • http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/www.billycoffey.com/2010/03/beautiful/ uberVU – social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by billycoffey: Guest posting for @katdish: Beautiful ~ http://bit.ly/cmysVb…

  • http://www.dayleshockley.com Dayle

    Billy, I couldn’t agree more. I blogged recently (actually it was a posting of a previous op/ed) about the pitfalls of believing beauty is all on the outside, and how I almost let a very good assistant slip through my hands, simply because of her appearance. Thankfully, I came to my senses.

    http://mswrite2.xanga.com/724134346/beauty-can-be-a-disguise/