Author: erikanblair

Beauty is…changing the world

Malala is by now a household name, and perhaps one of the most beautiful young women of our time.

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Malala is by now a household name, and the name of one of the most beautiful young women of our time.

Just in case you live under a rock, you can click here for a lovely presentation about her beautiful self:

She is Malala

If you’re not in the clicking mood, keep reading…

  • She was born in Mingora, in Pakistan‘s Swat Valley, in July of 1997
  • The Taliban began taking over her hometown when she was young. They forced many changes on the people in the Swat Valley, and targeted girl’s schools in particular.
  • Malala’s father founded the school Malala attended, and she did not give up her right to an education. In 2008 she gave a speech calling out the Taliban entitled, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?”
  • In 2009 Malala began anonymously blogging for the BBC. She wrote about living under threats from the Taliban. You know, the typical stuff 12 year old girls deal with.
  • In 2011, she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize and she was awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize.
  • When she was 14, she and her family learned that the Taliban had issued a death threat against her. However, they thought that even the Taliban would not harm a child.
  • In October 2012, a masked man boarded her school bus (more of a truck, really) and asked for Malala. When a couple of the kids looked towards her, the man held a gun to her face and shot her. She was hit in the left side of her head. Two other girls were also injured.
  • In November 2012, the Malala Fund was created. First, with the mission to aid with her medical expenses. When she had recovered she said, “I am fine. Help the other Malalas.” So, they did. And they have continued to do so.
  • Incredibly, she returned to school (in England this time) in March 2013.
  • In July 2013, she spoke at the United Nations.
  • In October 2013, her book “I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” was published.
  • That same month, Malala was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament.
  • She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize first in 2013, then again in 2014, when she became the youngest person to ever win the prize.
  • On her 18th birthday, she opened a school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. She urged her supporters to tell world leaders to invest in “books, not bullets.” She wrote: “The shocking truth is that world leaders have the moneu to fully fund primary AND secondary education around the world– but they are choosing to spend it on other things, like their military budgets. In fact, if the whole world stopped spending money on the military for just 8 days, we could have the $39 billion still needed to provide 12 years of free, quality education to every child on the planet.”

Needless to say, Malala is everything a human should be. She is brave, passionate, and active. She sees clearly the obstacles in the way of her mission, and she speaks out tirelessly against them. She is truly changing the world.

And that is beautiful.

(image from communitytable.parade.com)

Beauty is…simple

Let’s be a bit more intentional, ladies. Let’s look closer to home for our images of beauty. Let’s tell our daughters (and sons!) that they are beautiful because of their passion, their drive, their empathy. Not because of their glossy lips and smooth complexion.

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I remember some parts of Jr High very clearly. I spent a lot of time with those silly magazines aimed at tween and teen girls. You know the ones. They had posters of long haired boys with dreamy eyes. They had quizzes that define who you are and what you will be. And they had those lovely beauty tips.

Here’s the struggle I remember. There was this huge fad– to look as natural as possible, but with make-up. That seemed to be the aim of every product. To get natural looking shiny lips, you should use this lip gloss. To get natural looking smooth skin you will need this foundation. To get natural looking long, dark eyelashes, you should use this mascara. And here’s the thing– this seems to be a timeless trend in beauty.

I know it wasn’t new in the 90s and it is still popular now. What is up with this desire to USE products in order to look as though we DON’T use products?!

Now, I get it.

I get wanting to look presentable without looking like a clown.

Personally, I have this thing with the dark circles under my eyes. I don’t usually leave the house (or even the bathroom) without some concealer.

My beef is that we are presenting all of these images of “natural beauty” that are anything but natural! These ladies were in hair and makeup for at least a couple of hours. The lighting was just so. The camera angle was just right. And if the final shot wasn’t quite flawless enough, there is always Photoshop.

Let’s be a bit more intentional, ladies. Let’s look closer to home for our images of beauty. Let’s tell our daughters (and sons!) that they are beautiful because of their passion, their drive, their empathy. Not because of their glossy lips and smooth complexion.

This becomes especially difficult when your little one has spent the last 30 minutes locked in the bathroom trying to get her hair just right. Or has turned the dress-up bin upside down looking for the “prettiest” princess dress. She has put in all this effort, all this time and energy, when she triumphantly flings open the door, struts towards you, and says, “Ta da! What do you think?!”

Quick! What do you say?!

“Ohhhhhh, you look so BEAUTIFUL!!!”

That’s what I thought.

If you are going to stick with this reaction, you now have an extra responsibility. She needs to know beauty is not tied up in her hair-do or her princess dress. You need to praise her beauty when she rolls right out of bed. After she has been crying. When you are tucking her in. When she has been splashing around in a muddy puddle. When she gives her little sister the last bite of brownie. When she studies all week for a big test on Friday.

Or, you can re-evaluate your reaction. You can praise her creativity in hairstyle choice. Or her independence in picking out her own shoes and dress. Her dedication in making sure everything was how she wanted it. You can ask her if she feels proud, comfortable, happy. You can comment on how colorful and original her outfit is.

The point is to not equate the “stuff” with beauty. Beauty is not the hairstyle and its not the dress. Its not the lip gloss or the concealer. Those things can certainly make us feel prettier, more confident, more comfortable. But when they are washed off, our beauty remains.

It’s that simple.

Happy Thought Thursday

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IMG_4740 (2)

It’s easy to get complacent. To think, “Oh, I can’t do this or that.” And often times we think we need someone’s permission to do the THIS or the THAT–especially if it is something out of our normal “thing.”

Now, I can’t speak for you, but I know I have felt this way. And often! Maybe I have a new idea, I run it by someone and they are less than thrilled. I deflate. I shelve the idea and move on with my life. But every so often I think back and wonder “What if…?”

Do you see the problem there? You see what I did? When I told someone my idea, and they responded negatively,  I reacted as if I had asked them for permission to pursue it. But I don’t need their permission, do I? It was my idea, my risk, my loss if it falls apart.

Sometimes we wait for life to happen. We wait for permission to go on that trip or to set time aside to start that novel. Ladies, I give you permission to give yourself permission. Who is going to stop you?

Beauty is…finishing

Along with a throng of other elementary schoolers, this beautiful strong little lady read 26 books, ran 26 miles, and did 26 good deeds for Go! St Louis’ Read Right Run.

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Along with a throng of other elementary schoolers, this beautiful strong little lady read 26 books, ran 26 miles, and did 26 good deeds for Go! St Louis' Read Right Run.
Along with a throng of other elementary schoolers, this beautiful strong little lady read 26 books, ran 26 miles, and did 26 good deeds for Go! St Louis’ Read Right Run.

This little lady (along with 100s of other little ladies and fellas) reached an exceptional goal. Through the Go! St Louis Read, Right, Run program, kids all over the St Louis area read 26 books (the Read part), did 26 good deeds (the Right part), and ran 26.2 miles (the Run part). What I love about this event is that it celebrates WHAT these kiddos did. 26 books, deeds, and miles is no small task. But they did it! And they learned dedication, time management, and stick-to-it-iveness (yeah, its totally a word) along the way. They set a goal– a pretty lofty one if you ask me– and then they obliterated it.

Now that’s pretty darn beautiful.

To learn more about Go! St Louis and their various events promoting healthy families and healthy communities, visit their site:

GO! St. Louis Home

Beauty is…knowing what you are and knowing what you are not.

“You are your own definition of beautiful and worthwhile”

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Just in case you are a little unclear about what you are and what you are not, let Ms. Swift set a couple of things straight:

The whole thing is good. But there are couple points we particularly love here at OperationalizeBeauty:

at 1:20: “You are not the opinion of someone who doesn’t know you”

at 1:57: “You are your own definition of beautiful and worthwhile”

Now, whether you are a Taylor Swift fan or not, you have to admit– this is pretty fantastic. It’s not every day that young girls hear their idol tell them that they get to decide what and who they are. That they get to say what makes them beautiful and worthwhile. That they get to make the rules. It seems so simple, but we don’t hear it enough.

We want to change that. The whole mission of OperationalizeBeauty is to encourage women and girls to do exactly what T-Swift is talking about– embrace their own definition of what it means to be beautiful and worthwhile.

It’s good to know we have Ms Swift in our corner.

What is your definition of beauty?