We live in an age that pursues perfection. Got crow’s feet? Forget wrinkle cream – now there’s botox! Just keep injecting it every eight to ten weeks, and no one will notice that you’re no longer a youthful 29.
Is your chin sagging? Maybe it’s time for a little lift or tuck. Not everyone’s doing it, but many are. These days, covering up the hard evidence of living is not just perfectly acceptable – it’s expected!
But did you know that some folks have actually esteemed their scars? It’s true. Consider these words penned by William Shakespeare and spoken by his King Henry V of Britain, moments before he led his men into the bloody battle of Agincourt:
There’s a scene from Walt Disney’s Beauty and the Beast that causes a lump to form in my throat every time I see it. Tough but tender heroine Belle is dancing through an empty ballroom with the ugly, hulking beast, and she’s smiling up into his hideous face, her ingénue eyes aglow.
It’s one of those perfect moments where love creeps in against all odds, and insists on staying put. Where beauty is utterly and completely in the eye of the beholder, and not about to budge.
Apparently the appeal of that particular movie moment has nothing to do with age. I took my two nieces to see the film when they were seven and eleven, and on the way home asked them which part they liked most. Seven year old Victoria answered from the back seat without hesitation: “Oh, Aunt Leigh – I loved it when she danced with him and he was still the beast.”