A Beautiful Purpose: Lipstick, Leonardo and Luurve <3

While for whatever reason it pains me to admit, in spite of the resistance set up as a somewhat disdainful teen, I am a bit of a girly girl. (I guess you could say that this trait ties evenly with nerdiness…which hopefully softens the blow on both ends). While I’m not exactly an expert on fashion trends, brands or the correct way to apply foundation, there is one thing that I do know : I really, really like pretty things.

Above: The Isle Di Capri(ohh) <3

Clothes, houses, landscapes, words, food, men (I suppose, ugh), earrings. The spiffier the better. I don’t know what it is about aesthetics and me, but for some reason when things are visually appealing, the world is a better place.

The other day on the train, however, I made an unprecedented discovery. After six months of ownership, I finally found a pocket of time to translate two French lines inscribed on a beloved t-shirt. ‘A beauté est a l’intérieur.’ Roughly translated, it offered that "beauty is on the inside". Naturally this came as a shock… I mean, up until that point I’d been quite satisfied with the various outcomes of this purchase, and the suggestion that this product had further and more desirable attractions hidden within (um where?) did seem like an unnecessary oversell.

Above: in case we run out of fermented dairy

As I do pride myself, however, on an ability to reserve judgement, I allowed the idea to simmer overnight, and really, only due to my heightened cognitive acuity was I able to sniff out the analogical dimension they were aiming, albeit rather clumsily, for. Since phrases like this seem to be so widespread (and as this site is so clearly in with the times), I’d like in this post, to delve into the meaning of true beauty and of a life underpinned by purpose (gosh that does sound cheesy doesn’t it).

It’s always been my view that life is scattered with paradoxes; and there is no

exception when it comes to true beauty. Many a time, pretty things, with increased focus on physical aspects, can sell themselves short by developing a ‘mono-dimensionality’ which inhibits the development of true, multi-faceted goodness. Meanwhile, the so-called ‘plain’ and ‘unembellished,’ without a choice to profit from the superficial, are forced to cultivate deeper riches which are manifested in a magnetism and ebullience that can’t be explained by physical characteristics or bone structure alone.

It’s my view that beauty and fulfilment of purpose go hand in hand. When we describe something as being ‘good,’ we do so because it has fulfilled a criteria or met a standard. In particular, the achievement of such enables it or those in contact with it, to truly experience the benefits of being able to consciously direct each of it’s inbuilt mechanisms and charms, toward an end worthy of itself.

Above: the apple never falls far from the tree

Take for instance an iPhone. An iPhone is usually appraised as ‘good’ when it fulfils the criteria Apple set in response to the needs and desires of their consumers. At a foundational level, a good iPhone charges, has a decent battery life (contentious topic I know), has the ability to make phone and internet calls when connected to a reliable server, and can take photos of an arguably good quality.

It is a good iPhone because it meets the ends to which the engineers and designers intended for it’s use. Many Apple connoisseurs would even call it beautiful; these phones when taken care of are usually pretty smooth running, physically sleek, and a pleasure to operate. If on the other hand, an iPhone’s owner didn’t charge it, and used it to tenderise top-side meat, it would be operating beneath it’s true value; the inbuilt functions would never be fully realised, and the device never able to basque in the delight of being fully functional as itself.

I think that human beings are similar to iPhones…at least in the sense that when they pursue a purpose for which they were built, they glow. If perceived beauty is an indicator of purpose fulfilled, and I speak only with the authority of a nosy people-watcher, I can but conclude that our purpose as human beings is to take good care of one another.

Above: today I discovered Coco Chanel was also a human being

Yes, our enlarged cerebral cortices have been used for many other high, (and very good) ends since the dawn of our age. But I will argue to it’s dusk, that of them nothing is more supreme than the above stated. If we think about our basic anatomy, while our body parts each have many functions, is there a better purpose for our eyes but to see and really appreciate the good in others, our minds and intelligence but to step into and try to fully understand the other’s viewpoint, or our arms but to hold them when they need us to be there? And for those of us out there with especial wit, charm or beauty, let your ego have it’s fill, but don’t forget that your smile is

as bright as it is not so much for your instagram grid but rather to fill somebody else’s heart and remind them that the best things in life really belong to us all.

On a completely different segway, I was having a bit of a Leo Di Cap binge over the weekend (I highly recommend this). While Jay Gatsby isn’t my first choice as a model for humanity, Nick Carraway’s remark about the great man’s smile, did strike a chord with me.

“He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby).

Above: Leonardo Di Caprio plays The Great Gatsby (2013).

I really like that line: “…an irresistible prejudice in your favour.” A bit of an insider’s hint (just in case you haven’t gauged this already), people really, really like people who (genuinely) like, are interested in, and care about them. Why’s that? I don’t know, but I guess the fact that we’re all essentially egotists is one part of it. Of course, we probably shouldn’t be nice to others simply because we either want to be liked by them or by a third party we’re trying to impress, but I think this fact does demonstrate something essential. Gatsby’s smile lit up the terrace and we were intrigued by him until we realised he was a bit of a nutter, but Jack Dawson (I did say it was a binge) was a dreamboat to the end because, at least in some sense, we all appreciated his ability to see something in somebody else which was fully worth freezing in the Atlantic for. And contrary to popular belief, she was worth it.

Above: Hepburn; well-spoken as ever

In our society it’s hard not to want to chase after surface-level jewels, especially with social media splashed in our faces at every hour. At the heart of it all, this mad scramble is anchored in a disbelief in the reality that we are enough, now. Lipstick and mascara will always be my weakness, but I’m beautiful without cosmetics. And it was lovely to spend the weekend with Leo, but even he admits (we covered a lot in 48 hours) that he’s really not all that. True beauty, like happiness, can’t be pursued but rather ensues when we act and behave in ways which fulfil the purposes for which we were built. And I’m convinced that the highest of these is the service of those around us.

When we give to others, we not only shift the focus away from what we seemingly ‘lack,’ but it becomes apparent how much more we do have to offer, how much less we need for ourselves, and how unmitigated generosity is on par with drug abuse, with reference to its ensuing euphoria, and the reckless personal sacrifices made in it’s favour.

This week I invite you to literally not change anything about yourself. It’s just too much of a hassle and no-one has the energy for it anyway. Variety is the spice of life, as I’ve said incessantly since I was 18, and so I was thinking it might be fun instead to change the intentions behind the normal things you do: namely from doing them for yourself, to doing them for others. For example let that out of the way walk to the artisan coffee roasters, be done not so much for your own cerebral dopamine levels as for the sanity of your co-workers (they can get their own coffee though). I usually do examples in three but it’s midnight so I’m quitting now. All I’m saying is that you just have to start small, keep doing what you’re doing, everything is so, so fine. If you were made for it, which you are, you’ll get there. And if my confidence in you as an unknown reader means anything in the slightest, and doesn’t strike you as disingenuous, then, my friend, you have every ounce of it <3

Buonamezzanotte (I made that word up, enjoy trying to translate it).