Today I am going to get my makeup done. It’s fun, the four or five times a year it happens, to be facially transformed and feel a little bit like Cinderella at the Ball. The reason for this entree into the world of perfect foundation and unlikely eyelashes is that Lantern Books, the lovely little publishing house that will be bringing out The Love-Powered Diet: Eating for Freedom, Health, and Joy next month, likes to do short videos for its own site and for YouTube, etc. But as I contemplated the day ahead and the magical hour I’ll spend with the makeup artist, Chrisann Davis, I started to think about what it means to feel beautiful. And I came with my “Top 10 Ways to Feel Beautiful (or Handsome),” not just on special days, but every day:
1. Decide that you’re beautiful. This is key. I told the story in my book Creating a Charmed Life how, as young magazine writer in Kansas City, I was sent to interview a gorgeous and charismatic actress. She confided at one point: “I’m not really beautiful. I just decided when I was very young that my life would be better if I were beautiful, so—I decided I would be and everyone’s believed it ever since.” And I saw it: feature by feature, she wasn’t nearly as stunning as everybody thought, but we thought it because she believed it.
2. Find something to be happy about. When you’re happy you feel fabulous and bring a smile to others. There’s a light in your eye and a light all around you. Take a look at Marci Shimoff’s lovely bestseller, Happy for No Reason.
3. Get some kind of bodywork. When you remember that you have a body, and how good it can feel, it’s easier to feel beautiful. In the current economic season when frugality is the order of the day, it may seem archaic or self-indulgent to suggest getting a massage or reflexology treatment, but if it was important to your well-being in 1999, it’s important to your well-being in 2009. If money is tight right now, check out a massage school in your area.
4. Do something helpful for somebody else. You’ll feel beautiful inside and out.
5. Exercise! The endorphins lift your spirits, the circulation gives your complexion a glow,
and knowing you did something good for yourself is a self-esteem boost. I took a Bikram Yoga class yesterday at the studio in Harlem neighborhood. Bikram is the kind of yoga done in a 105-degree (it felt like 120-degree) room—and when I got home my husband said, “You look sexy”—right in the middle of the day.
6. Take some time out for yourself. Whether it’s a walk in the park, an hour with a good book, or a run by the river, removing yourself from the fray is a way to remind yourself that you’re valuable and beautiful (guys: handsome, hot, whatever works).
7. Hang out with people who see your beauty. The ones who know you, admire you, and love you see your beauty ever so clearly. A little child who loves you is great for this. Cozy up to one of those some time when you’re feeling less than stunning.
8. Play with the dog or pet the cat. Animals are so great: we’re beautiful to them no matter what.
9. Go to an art museum. Artists see more beauty in a variety of face and bodies than the rest of us do. At the art museum, there are paintings of exquisite nudes who aren’t thin, and photographs of faces that don’t look like a magazine cover but that captivate you for half an hour anyway.
10. Do something healthy. Make some juice, eat a salad, tap a nap, do some stretching before bed. Health is beauty. When you know you’re doing the best for yourself, you just might find yourself singing “I Feel Pretty” and agreeing with the words.
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