On being Beautiful

Recently, the internet was turned upside down when a routine criminal arrest turned into a world wide conversation on the power of being beautiful.  Jeremy Meeks was apprehended, along with three others, on suspicion of criminal activity.   When the Stockton police department posted images of their newest arrests, they had no idea how a simple image would generate such a heightened reaction simply because the alleged criminal was......strikingly beautiful.

Many have debated about whether it was just "a good pic" or if Jeremy missed his calling as a fashion model.  Whatever your opinion, I'm sure many would agree that his above average looks are certainly "remark-able." Looking back at the entire ordeal, my mind flashed back to the olden days when I'd watch video taped evidence of "beauty bias" in action.  Preferential treatment given to attractive people seemed to occur in a multitude of situations from landing a great job to being helped by total strangers. They've even determined that children are also susceptible to creating positive or negative perceptions based on how a person looks.  Perhaps we, on a basic level, all have something deep down that impacts how we relate to attractive people.  I've even heard that it could be connected to our need for survival in that (1) attractive people are seen as friendlier, more approachable, less dangerous (2) Most want to procreate with someone who is deemed attractive to them.

Heck, this bias towards beauty, that we seem to have, doesn't only apply to other human beings. If we are given a choice to pick out a piece fruit from a bowl of its counterparts, we reach for the brightest, freshest (most attractive) piece of fruit.  Our eyes are naturally drawn to beautiful cars, homes, pieces of art .etc. It's in all of us.

Knowing that attractive bias exists, should we focus our attention on condemning the shallow preferences of others or should we somehow leverage it?  What if, our level of attractiveness can impact the kind of life we live? What if we could be earning a higher wage (as some studies suggest), receive extra support from others that we wouldn't normally have access to and gain other benefits simply if we presented ourselves a different way? What if we could alter the course of our lives by presenting ourselves to the world in an intentional and powerful way.
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"There are no ugly women, only lazy ones."

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Can you think back to a time when you paid careful attention on how you looked compared to other days. How did people react to you?  Did you seem to emanate a different level of energy than when you just walked out the door without giving yourself a second look?  On an average day I look as if I put approximately 1% of time and energy into the way I look.  My excuse has to do with lack of time.  Once, however, I took a two week vacation and committed to dedicated ample amounts of time to taking care of my skin, doing my hair, keeping my nails chip free, growing my lashes, preparing my clothes, the works.

Everything changed during those two weeks.

People saw me in a new way.  The lingering looks from total strangers seemed endless. People who I once thought were outside my level of attractiveness seemed drawn to me.  It was pretty crazy.   Nothing like I had ever experienced before.  It made me wonder "is this what it's like to be an attractive person. Why is it so different?"  Then time passed and my old habits crept in and soon, I went back to being my old self again.  This whole Jeremy Meeks fiasco helped remind me of how much our appearance impacts the direction of our lives.

 I'm not talking about trying to please others,  I'm referring to being the very best version of ourselves at all times.  And not to mention how much our confidence skyrockets when are look our best.  Let's discuss this more on our next talk on this topic.