Towards a working definition of inner beauty

I’ve talked a lot about how beauty is not just what you see, but who you are. That beauty is something that happens on the inside as much or more as it happens on the outside.

And I’ve realized that, while it’s fairly easy to define what beauty is on the outside, it’s a bit harder to grasp what being beautiful on the inside means.

When we talk outside beauty, we are referring to the aesthetic qualities of something: shapes and forms and curves and lines. And this is what photography has mostly focused on since its inception. It is a visual media, so it should capture the visible beauty.

Which is all fine and dandy. Really. I am not saying anything bad about exterior beauty. I am just as likely as the next person to take a picture of an amazing sunset for its sheer beauty.

But people? People are not sunsets or mountains or towering trees. They have a physical beauty to them, yes, but we have another dimension or three. We are social beings, we have intellect and emotions. And there is beauty to be found in these things, too.

It’s easy to spot physical beauty: an olympic athlete at peak form. A magazine model. But what is inner beauty?

Well, if outer beauty is a pleasing arrangement of shape and form and curve and line and colour, then inner beauty is a pleasing arrangement of personality, social graces, emotions and intellect.

There is no one combination of things that are considered beautiful, but there are things that make up interior beauty. Traits that contribute to a person’s inner beauty.

Traits that are considered beautiful include (but are not limited to) Loving, Joyful, Peaceful, Patient with others and with themselves, Kind, Gentle, Confident, Grounded, Grateful, Accepting of flaws (both in themselves and in others), Passionate, Vulnerable, Expressive, Adventurous, Creative, Honest, Friendly, Open-mindedness and Easy going.

Note, this does not mean that you have to have all these traits. You could be the most loving person in the world, but find it hard to open up and be vulnerable. Or if you are quiet and gentle, but find it hard to be confident in yourself. That’s okay. We are a mix of the things we want to be, the things we don’t want to be and the things we want to become. Striving to be a better person than you were yesterday? Is also beautiful.

And showing these things in a picture? Is hard. But it’s worth it.