Last month while getting ready for work, I has to cancel my entire day at the last minute. I rushed out if the house in the morning to take my son to the medical clinic. It was his third severe allergic reaction in 3 weeks and I was becoming concerned that we might need an epi pen.We waited many hours just to get a referral to an allergist. As the swelling subsided my son looked more like himself but I knew he could not return to school. I had cleared my entire day to take him to the doctor. He was o.k. so on the way home we popped into a store to buy him a new backpack for school.While in the store I had to use the washroom. While washing my hands I happened to look into the mirror and gasped.I had no makeup on. None at all. In my rush to leave I had just skipped that part of getting ready.Now I do not normally wear a lot of makeup and I cannot wear foundation (I have never been able to-it feels restrictive to me).but I generally have at least some mascara or lip gloss on if I go out. Today I had nothing and once I realized that, well I felt a little naked...a little exposed.When I met my son outside the washroom. I said to him in a hushed tone...kind of like it was some big secret..because I felt it was..." I forgot to put my makeup on."He just looked at me and gave me a puzzled look and said matter of fact that no one would notice and that I looked beautiful.Awwww what a little sweetie. But what he said made me stop.I suddenly felt superficial and a bit silly because he was absolutely right. No one did notice. I was the only one noticing.While driving home I was contemplating this whole experience. More or less contemplating my reaction. I began thinking about makeup in general. It really is just a mask that we wear. Why does a bit of pigment make the difference in feeling complete and put together? It covers our real face. In a way, it is illusion, concealing the truth of who we are.No one died that day seeing me bare faced. No one stared at me or treated me any differently.It was MY reaction of seeing myself in the mirror, and the shock of having forgotten a key piece in getting ready to 'face' the world. I may as well have had two heads or forgotten a key piece of clothing. I have gone without makeup many times, while camping and hiking, while in the jungle. I had no issue with it while in nature, so why did I even care?I think because makeup is a part of the social expectation in getting ready to go out. We wear clean clothes, we are washed and clean, our hair brushed, clean clothes on. Essentially well groomed and put together. Our moms teach us that taking care of these things are an important part of taking care of ourselves and I totally agree. When we take time and effort in self care, that is a way to love and honour ourselves. But why is the makeup such a key part in that getting ready? More importantly why is it so automatic in my life that I just do it and do not even question the 'why' of it?Is it to perpetuate the illusion of a perfect complexion because a perfect complexion is a symbol of youth or symbolizes good health? Is it from way back in ancient times when we used to paint ourselves before ceremony or battle? I really do not know and honestly I'm not sure why we do it.All I know is my reaction was utterly ridiculous. As a woman I really have not come as far as I think. Maybe we all haven't because I know I'm not the only one who would have reacted this way.
We think we are empowered but so many of us are still frightened of not being good enough hiding behind artificial layers of gunk.Many of us are still slaves to the idea of what beauty is. Where did this whole 'rule' of you need to wear makeup even come from?Not only makeup but younger and younger women are having cosmetic surgery to feel better about themselves. They are not disfigured to begin with-not at all. And This is Surgery-not a makeover. Someone is cutting into their body and putting plastic inside of it. Plastic. To have breasts like the women in magazines. These girls have not even had children yet. I'm not talking about people who have been born disfigured or are having reconstruction or surgery for health reasons. I'm talking about young healthy girls wanting to be changed into an 'ideal' that is unnatural. Why? Is it because girls cannot have self esteem or feel beautiful in a world that defines the parameters of beauty in such a narrow way? Here is a link to some pictures of celebrities without makeup. These people have teams of people working with them to get them camera ready. We need to remind young girls of that.As a holistic practitioner, I just wish people would give as much attention and effort to their insides. One of the most medically altered people I ever met, on the inside she was so insecure. The outside changes were just a band aid solution, an illusion for others, while she still operated from a place of fear and unworthiness. That to me is tragic.I have witnessed people spending hundreds of dollars on shoes or a handbag, but they will not invest anything into their own health and wellness.Insides are just as important than outsides. More important actually!We live in a part of the world that often celebrates the illusion(the mask) more than it does the truth inside. But we are the ones who make up the world. We do. We decide.Let's decide differently. In our future let us support our girls in a more responsible way, with love and with compassion and empower then so they do not feel the need to go under a knife for improvement. We need to show them they are loved and beautiful just as they are.I'm so grateful that my son reminded me of the importance of the beauty within, and that he made me Stop and think about all of this.Will I still wear makeup? If I feel like it. But at least now I will wear it in a mindful way, and it will be for me, and not for anyone else.I am so grateful to my son for his ability to see the beauty within. I hope he keeps that perspective always. The girls out there are going to need more boys like that to help them see how beautiful they really are-inside and out.xoKerri