Tuesday, March 06, 2007

In the Eye of the Beholder

Thanks a lot for your warm compliments about my mug shots below. I couldn't get my shirt over my head this morning; it was so big after reading my comment box. Truly I have never thought of myself as either pretty or beautiful. Beauty must be , as the poet says, in the eye of the beholder. I don't behold either one in myself.

I asked Joel one time the difference between "pretty" and "beautiful"; this was his astute answer:


Pretty means you look pretty. Beautiful means you make the world beautiful.

I asked, "Which one am I?" and he replied after a moment, "Pretty AND beautiful. But mostly beautiful." Melt my HEART!!!!

I used to want to be pretty; now, my little boy's definition is all that matters. If I leave this world a more beautiful place, for Jesus' sake, I shall have lived well.

Anyway, you all were too kind. I felt silly running to jump into the picture while hearing that timer beep and trying to put my face in the center of the lens, which sometimes worked but I deleted a lot of them. But someone (a truly beautiful friend whose initials are L.R.) had encouraged me to put a picture of myself up there again cuz it had been awhile. I showed Joel the picture he took of me (that I posted) and he said, "Huh! Not bad!" I complimented how well he centered the shot and didn't get more flowers than face.

3 comments:

Kitty Couture said...

Joel's definition is perfect. Wow, that little boy of yours is a treasure. By all means, going by that definition you are both pretty and beautiful, but mostly beautiful.

Amy said...

kids have so much wisdom sometimes! I LOVE Joel's definitions of pretty and beautiful--something to ponder today for sure.

I didn't comment below, by the way, but the photos were great!

Bethany said...

What an adorable boy you have!!! So sweet. And you are very pretty and beautiful.

I know it sounds weird but as a photographer I have seen inner beauty shine through to the outside of a person when I photograph them. I could photograph the most beautiful woman in the world and yet miss something if she doesn't have that spark. And then there have been times when I photograph a woman or girl that to just look at in real life you might think oh they are cute but not stunning. Then I look at the images and they are SOOOO beautiful. It is something in their eyes that dances. Hard to explain or describe but I have seen it happen a lot.