We live in a world where the aesthetic matters. Or so we have assumed. When we scroll through Instagram, it is easy to see that everyone resembles each other when it comes to style and fads. Fashion trends pop up every season and the cosmetic industry makes billions by producing products that claim to guarantee eternal youth. Celebs make a fortune off our desires to “keep up” with the unrealistic beauty standards they perpetuate. We try to emulate supermodels and find solace in filters that alter all the facial features that we deem not good enough. We hide the realness of who we are because we have been habitually conditioned to believe that we are unworthy without the extra “stuff”. We invest in eating plans and personal trainers, smoothies, supplements, and surgeries to guarantee our impeccable beauty. None of these things is inherently harmful but we have created a culture that is overly dependent on being defined as worthy based on these external tools of validation. When we observe our reality behind all the perfectly angled selfies, there is SO much more to us than what meets the eye.
Our perception of what holds value is reflected in the crumbling society we live in. We overvalue appearance. Our overattachment to the virtue of beauty fades away when we focus on the things that truly matter. Our connection with the Higher Power, nature, our families, and friends, how aligned we are with our values and the way we view humanity. We claim to love beauty and we “ooh” and “ah” at the pictures of natural beauty yet behind this façade are places that are disrespected by pollution and corporate companies who want to capitalize on sacred lands. We value high-earning careers but turn a blind eye to corruption, unethical practices and inappropriate yet normalized jokes and expressions.
There is an inconsistency in the application of moral conduct and fortified character. There is a real ugliness in society. We have accepted exclusivity as a standard of measurement for decades and we are only beginning to enter an era of beauty in diversity. Marginalized communities are gaining momentum in representation and the yardstick is no longer about how skinny, fair-skinned, or able-bodied you are. We are seeing more of this in children’s films that incorporate characters that do not only look like a small percentage of humanity. Movies like “Encanto” and “Moana” show young women of colour that they are significant despite previous notions that strong female leads are only important when they are pining after men who are burdened with the responsibility of saving them. Empowerment is on the cards.
Many do not know how to turn inward but rather look to fix their appearance as it diminishes the discomfort they experience from acknowledging their wounds. Their vanity becomes their sanity as it is assuring the “pretty privilege”. We invest in lip fillers and eyeliners but the words we speak are cruel and our opinions of others are unkind. We glorify movies like “Mean Girls” and speak ill of others, forgetting that “it is honey, not vinegar that catches the fly”. (I never understood that expression because why would I want to catch a fly? What would I do with it? Surely a fly in honey would only attract ants and then we would have a real problem!). Anyway, we normalize cattiness and gossip as well as the trashy tabloids and unintentionally miss the opportunity to elevate the conversation that can potentially spark truth and foster meaning. We spend so much time investing in refining our appearance that it makes you wonder: have we spent so much time refining our appearance that we have forgotten to groom the most important parts of ourselves like our hearts, souls, and minds?
I look at society and see the potential. The absolute potential to advance. To create an ever-advancing civilization that transcends the forces of materialism and luxury and instead places itself on the trajectory of growth through the facilitation of moral education at all levels of society. Change begins with looking inward and deciding that you want to experience the journey of exponential personal growth. Shifting your focus from the fantasies of glamour and opulence and identifying your strengths that can foster change in your community by tweaking the facets of your soul that still need some polishing.
We have focused for too long on creating a life that transmits the illusion of perfection. We have lost touch with our purpose. Our purpose is to know and worship God through our service to humanity. When we focus on cultivating our Godly attributes and creating a strong sense of our true and noble identity we act from a place of spiritual excellence. We become exemplary in our thoughts, words, and deeds. We create a life of integrity. We become virtuous exemplars.
Growing up, I had some impeccable role models. I look at the previous generations and I marvel at their strength, fortitude, faith, and resilience. The trauma they endured, the opportunities they never received, and the unjust and oppressive systems that robbed them of their true worth. It took strength and character to endure, overcome and wade through the heaps of injustice that our parents, grandparents, and all those who came before us, endured. We are taught about “generational trauma”, but we forget that we have also inherited generational strengths. We are descendants of survival. To have survived, they needed to endure, and our character is refined through tests and challenges. Through them, we learn who we are and when things do not work out the way we want them to, we are shown who we are. We see our true reflection.
What if instead of looking in the mirror daily, we decided to become LIKE a mirror? A mirror that reflects light. A mirror that is polished by the pain and trials of life. Life is polishing you in preparation for your true destiny. Your eternal destiny. Our souls must be purified to exert influence. Our struggles polish us so that we can reflect the beauty and light of the Source. We should surround ourselves with exemplary individuals who question and challenge our biases and prejudices and who create a safe space to explore our misconceptions with the attitude of curiosity and discernment. As we enter this process to acquire a state of excellence, we should always trust that we are moving along a continuum. We acquire excellence through intention, vision, commitment, and volition. Incremental steps. Each day. We become better through knowing ourselves. We learn about ourselves through action, reflection, consultation, and self-study and aspire and strive to attain a pristine and immaculate state of perfection… emanating the light of excellence like a precious, polished mirror.
