The other day we were in Mr. Nellis's EDPY class and we were discussing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. For those of you that are unsure of what they are, it starts with the basic human needs which are: physiological, safety, love & acceptance, self-esteem and respect of others.
Once you have that foundation you build upon them with personal growth needs like: knowledge & understanding, aesthetic & beauty, self actualization, then finally self transcendence.
A comment was made that if someone has reached the aesthetic and beauty phase that they must have missed a step. The class laughed which I can fully understand why, then it was further explained that the level of aesthetic and beauty represented things like cooking and appreciation for the arts, etc.
For some reason this comment shook me to my core, so much so, for the first time in a long time I felt my raw emotions being expressed in every physical form; by my uncomfortable body language, the anger in face, the sadness in my eyes. These are things I usually try to hide in order to respect other peoples views and opinions, but it made me realize this might be a subject that I am passionate about.
I don't know why but when I first heard the level of asthetic and beauty what thought it represented was:
- A bulimic girl who was told at a point in her life that she was fat and not good enough, being able to look herself in the mirror and truly say " I am pretty" after many hours of therapy.
- A boy who was over weight in high school and bullied, who found a sport he was passionate about and finally feels comfortable in his own skin.
- The shy person who never really fit in anywhere, discovering their purpose or niche in life and no longer dresses like everyone else to feel like they fit in, but dresses in a way that reprents themselves and feels authentically beautiful.
To me aesthetic and beauty represents maturity, confidence and appreciation for yourself, and others. You can joke about beauty, but for those of us who had hard times in our lives, it takes a lot of hard work, practice and years of dedication to define who you are in this world, and to authentically acknowledge your true beauty.
That is worth celebrating!
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