...a rare combo."
This is a sentence I read on an influencers story grab, where she was posting positive things that people had to say about her.
I really like this influencer. She is a well-read, informed and empathetic thinker. She is also beautiful and very easy on the eyes.
To that end, the first part of the sentence the admirer wrote about the influencer (Beauty and brains...) is absolutely true. Except for the message this influencer puts out i.e." everyone has beauty, think, change, evolve, accept" does not sit well with the second part of the admirer's line ("a rare combo"). Allow me to try and explain.
If everyone has beauty, if we are to celebrate ourselves and if we are called to think and evolve, why is the premise of beauty and brains being a rare combination being propagated? Surely we must have some intelligence in order to live, read, choose, write, inform ourselves and make decisions?
Einstein said it best, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Having tried my best to be quick to listen and slow to speak in the past 12 months, I'm glad to say that observing others and really listening to what they have to say has enabled me to notice that what Einstein said has truth to it.
If a certified genius believes everyone else is a genius, who am I to think that someone isn't a smart and intelligent person simply because they don't fit the world's standards of anything?
I choose to change that narrative in my head. Beauty and intelligence are not a 'rare combo' as this admirer says. How each one expresses intelligence is very different and some of us could do with learning to convey and emote better.
I prefer to call attention to the beauty in all kinds of people and intelligence in all forms. Not doing so means we risk disrespecting those around us, even unconsciously, on the premise that they are somehow lesser than us.
Friend, live knowing that your beauty is still beautiful, whether it's on a screen for thousands to admire or behind closed doors. Your intelligence is unique to you and it is yours to enjoy, cultivate and bless others with.
Xx,
L