Had a heated discussion with my sister about getting a tattoo, I've been trying to complete a design for a half sleeve for about 4 years now. I just discovered Thomas Hooper's work, which I adore. If only I had the plane fare to New York....
Anyway; "Well, I think if you're doing it for reasons other than aesthetics, the design has purpose and you've really thought about it then you're always going to be happy with it, no matter how your body changes. If there's one thing I've learnt recently it's that people can find anything to judge you on; look at her skin, aren't her arms flabby, that tattoo looks awful. It genuinely means nothing, it's a fleeting moment, it's you who has to stand in front of a mirror and see yourself for the rest of your life. People mark and scar themselves because they aren't comfortable with who they are, I love the idea that you might mark or scar yourself because you are completely comfortable with who you are. That's the biggest draw for me."
In response to her telling me that she worries a lot about the way she looks, especially as she gets older. This made me sad, she really is beautiful;
"Why worry though? If you really look at yourself you'll see you're totally beautiful, even the bits that make you feel like you're not. Other people can influence it but ultimately it's all about you. It affects the way you see people. Like I don't look at mum and see the negatives of age or think she should lose a few pounds, I see the lovely laughter lines around her eyes and how the way she holds herself shows how open she is with everyone. I'm not saying I'm never going to get down about myself, or wish I looked like someone else. However I am going to make a real effort to see my external self as the result of a life lived, experience had and choices made."
Over and Out
It makes me happy to read this. Have been pondering a lot about human beauty recently, for one reason or another, and have fairly similar thoughts. I've spoken to people who claim to be shallow, and only really be interested in looks, but I don't really understand that. I'm not really sure how you divorce who somebody is and what they think, believe and do in their lives from how they look.
ReplyDeleteEven when you first meet someone, I don't think the judgements we make are purely based upon physical appearance; we extrapolate from their appearance and project a certain way of being on to them (getting to know someone is largely made up of overturning such preconceptions). Human beauty represents something more than just the physical.
When we see people we see them as a whole. The whole "Beauty is only skin deep thing" confuses me a little bit, because it seems to suggest that who someone is and whether we perceive them as beautiful are separate issues. But I can't help but think that how we see somebody in physical terms is directly related to how we perceive of them as a person, holistically.
Anyway, will shut up now. Have had these thoughts rattling around my head for too long. Need to actually get around with dealing with my insecurities rather than just theorising about them at some point.