As much as mass media tries to give us a one-size-fits-all mold for appearances and ways of being in the world, the one thing that keeps the human race vibrant and beautiful is how each and every person is so unique. Those sometimes crooked teeth, deep dimples, wrinkles, gray hair, knobby knees, wide smiles or bow legs are what make us beautiful and give us a stamp of individuality. And while physical appearance is only one aspect of our multifaceted and complex selves, it is the one that media and marketers work with most to play on fears and insecurities in an attempt to get us to conform to some image that benefits them financially. 

But I personally don’t want everyone to look the same! What a boring world that would be!  What’s most intriguing are the people who appreciate and see the God, the good in who and what they are – unabashedly, without bragging or boasting, but bearing a weight of Self-confidence that creates an inner glow and radiance. At the beach a beautiful woman with ebony skin wore a bright pink-orange swim suit and her body was strong and maternal – not the clothes-hanger thin girls depicted in magazines. Against the back drop of the blue sky and blue-gray ocean, she looked beautiful, as beautiful and much more interesting than the girl who walked past wearing a striped bikini who would have fit perfectly and boringly into any summer beach ad.

What is it with the need to conform? When we seek to conform to some standard that’s put out in media, magazines, and on TV and in films, we do ourselves a disservice. We try to become what we are not. We seek to live up to an ideal that is not real, but airbrushed and soulless. The people that tantalize and appeal are those who dare to be true to that inner image of who they truly are. When we imitate we betray ourselves. When we strive to live up to the inner ideal of who and what we are at our highest and best, then we soar. We live among the angels.

Bio: Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind/body/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http://www.awakeintheworld.com.