Beauty Spotting PART 3 - a Fierce Act of Rebellion

As I journey with you in this #BeautySpotting and #PostiveEmotionDialUp Power Practice I am noticing I am taking a little more time each day to s-l-o-w down and be present in the moment.  I’m noticing more thankfulness and reverence rising in me. So, that’s good, more please! What are you noticing?

You will remember I also got some push back on my suggestion that we notice a physical feature of somebody else, as part of this practice. Here is the feedback I received :

“I jarred a bit at the first beauty spotting tip being others’ physical characteristics and wondering whether bringing looking at the beautiful characteristics of others first might lessen this impact for others in a world where there is so much focus and emotion around physical beauty. This is my stuff around not being beautiful enough and I think this is common trigger for others.”

Yes there is sooooo much focus and emotion around physical beauty in our culture. There is lots more to say about how we as women learn to be and look and value ourselves and others, how we externally validate, how we compare and contrast, and how this erodes our capacity to self-love and self-value.

For now I encourage you to notice the bias that you have as you look at others - we are so well trained in what is ‘acceptable’ beauty and what isn’t.

And for this Practice I encourage you to see and really see the beauty in others – whether or not they conform to the stereotypes that exist in our culture.

As I have focussed on this #BeautySpotting Practice of noticing a beautiful characteristic from another person, I notice that I am becoming more conscious of my own beauty biases.

ESSENTIAL SIDE NOTE: Becoming more aware of our own biases is a good thing (the research tells us that we all think that everyone else is biased and that we are not). It is the starting point for change.  

So in my choice to look at others and see past traditional/ typically defined beauty, this is what I notice:

-          I have a strong beauty bias that shapes my judgements of others

-          I am choosing to become more aware of this and stay curious about it

-          I can then choose to see beyond the skin and surface of another person

-          I can choose to see someone else’s innate human qualities 

-          I can then call out that person’s unique and beautiful self

-          This can genuinely shift how I see another person

-          Wow and then that can actually shift how I feel towards that other person

So rather than a collusion, I discover that this #BeautySpotting Practice is a fierce act of rebellion in the face of our cultures’ unrelenting beauty tyranny.

So here is the Practice:

·       What physical feature of another person can you notice as beautiful? Just choose whoever is next to you and see beyond whether they are traditionally what our culture would name ‘beautiful’ . What innate and unique human qualities can you spot? (don’t stare tho!!)

Sign up to receive Catalyst Notes

I write weekly on a mix of topics like leadership, spirituality, change, resilience and wellbeing, navigating and shifting the systems we're in as women and my journey with intersectional feminism. I also share awesome free tips, research and resources that I don't share anywhere else! www.katycatalyst.com/signup