Member-only story

Navigating ‘Beauty’ In A World That Constantly Emphasizes The External

Beauty is about more than how we look, right?

Matt Hogan
3 min readMar 20, 2021
Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

“It’s easy to confuse the image we present to the world for who we actually are, especially when media messaging deliberately blurs that distinction. You might look beautiful today, but if that was the result of vain obsession in the mirror this morning, the Stoics would ask, are you actually beautiful? A body build from hard work is admirable. A body build to impress gym rats is not.”

Ryan Holiday, via MoveMe Quotes

A friend of mine came up to me and showed me three letters she had written on her hand: “PGS.”

“Guess what they stand for…” She challenged. “You’re going to roll your eyes...”

After a couple of failed attempts at guessing, she finally revealed that they stood for “Pretty Girl Summer.”

It was her reminder whenever she reached for snacks or unhealthy foods to abstain so that she could be a “Pretty Girl this Summer.”

Of course, I rolled my eyes.

Does abstaining from Oreos—or any other food—make you pretty? Of course not. It might help you avoid some calories—which can be a noble effort—but pretty is more than calories. It may demonstrate self-control—which is an…

--

--

Matt Hogan
Matt Hogan

Written by Matt Hogan

I help busy people do inner work. Specifically find alignment, build discipline, and uncover joy. Read my daily musings at matthogan.blog.

No responses yet