What is beauty, anyway?

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.

~Kahlil Gibran

***

Someone called me beautiful today. To tell you the truth, whenever I hear it I ask myself

"What is beauty, anyway?"

To find the answer, I think back to the last few times I heard that I was beautiful.

• I listened to a neighbor tell me about a family issue.
• I sat at a bar with a complete stranger. He was recently laid off and was strategizing a new job search. It wasn't even closing time.
• I wrote a blog about following your dreams and the power of self-belief. A man wrote to tell me that I was beautiful. He actually stated that I "must hear that all the time".

Well, no, I don't.

Looking back on these experiences, I found one common thread. I think I finally figured this beauty business out. Beauty isn't about having the best make-up artist in the world. It isn't about nice clothes, or composure, or confidence.

Beauty is about being genuinely kind, compassionate, and seeing the unique beauty in those around us. It is a little more than that: beauty is reminding people about those unique qualities that make them special so that they can see those qualities for themselves.