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Beauty is happiness.

Beauty has varied throughout time, various cultures and the vast different perceptions of the world. Beauty has been described and depicted through pictures and concepts penetrating our minds. Beauty has been defined in so many ways. What I have discovered is that beauty is simple. Beauty is happiness.

It’s the images and moments that inspire and represent the most distinct and remarkable attractiveness of our souls. It’s the moments we feel free and real. It’s the moments we feel proud and eminent. It’s the moments we feel alive. It seems like that element should be inherent, but it isn’t.

Beauty is often distorted, misunderstood and shadowed by a wide amount of conflicting pressures. It is something we endlessly strive for, rather than see in the true essence of our happiest moments.

I think of the times I’ve been most happy and whether or not those align with common beauty standards. It hasn’t been the nights my hair stayed intact, body dressed attractively, or skin shined flawlessly. It’s been the moments I felt beauty because of happiness, which was not derived from my appearance — at all.

I love the beauty that pulsates through my body with my lover’s hand on the back of my messy hair, and lips pressed against mine. I love the beauty of how I feel on the beach, with my hair stuck to my face by the salty ocean water and the way my skin feels being touched by the sand and sun. I love the beauty of my sweaty face and squealing voice as I belt out lyrics at a concert. I love photos that capture my beauty during unrehearsed moments. These are the times when I feel most beautiful because I’m alive, not because of what an exterior image has brainwashed me to believe.

It’s those sensations that ignite the real flame of confidence and beauty in the souls of those constantly bombarded with messages telling them to believe otherwise. It’s the little moments, like when someone looks at you with respect and admiration. It’s the true ecstasy of falling in love with people and places in a magically easy way. It’s the way it feels to achieve a goal you’re worked tirelessly to achieve. It’s the wrinkles from every effortless smile and furrowed brow of strength that make a face perfect. It’s the moments that build the women we become and strive to be. Beauty is in the heart, and the way it shines through.

We are all unique women, with experiences and memories that tie together seamlessly into a blanket of our own versions of beauty. We are different shapes, sizes, colors, and heritage. We are mothers, daughters, and grandmothers. We are activists, innovators, achievers and inspirations. We are the lives and change we create, and that is beauty.

Our bodies are simply a shell that allows us to radiate these experiences and accomplishments through. They are a case that displays our happiest and most incredible experiences for the world to share with us. No culture, company or concept could ever define beauty. It is composed of the moments that draw upon our strength, and consume us with the remarkable and intoxicating experience of being alive.