9th entry - Looking and Being Beautiful (Part 1)
"If you think you are beautiful, you will be beautiful."
- tagline for TV commercial -
For someone who believes that Beauty is more than skin deep, I have become increasingly particular about the skincare products I use on my hair, face and body, and also more interested in skincare knowledge.
Although I hold firmly to the belief that human kindness, discipline, diligence, sense of morality and justice (what I consider to be "inner beauty"), I have always appreciated aesthetic beauty in the form of good looks and physique, natural landscapes and various works of art/design. In my younger days, I spent more of my time consciously pursuing the former. Honestly, when I look back, I think my rationale was more to please others and to be accepted by those around me, than to do what I think is "right". My "character building" activities included attending church, standing up for what I think is "right", being filial towards my parents and doing volunteering work.
As my life experience grows, I start to realise that I am no longer consciously pursuing these things. This is not to say that I am satisfied with whatever I have achieved or moulded through "character building" - there is plenty of room for improvement. I'm glad that I had a solid foundation, without which I would not have a good anchor in a society where moral standards keep shifting and people say "nothing is absolute and everything is relative". In my daily life I do reflect on my deeds and misdeeds and ponder over what I see or experience to make sure that I do not get sidetracked or lose my sense of direction.
In school I was conscious about my appearance, not so much because of vanity as because of peer pressure. Simply put, geeks or "country-bumpkins" were not acceptable by the standards upheld by teens - being "hip" or trendy was a pre-requisite to popularity and happiness as I knew it.
During my army days, the importance of a neat and well-groomed appearance was underscored by periodic disciplinary enforcement in the form of "extra duties" or punishment that the Regimental Sergeant Major meted out to all the enlisted national servicemen. The message was clear: either you cut your hair short or you will have your precious weekends cut short.
When I attended business school at university, I learnt that a professional image leaves a good impression and is a key ingredient to success. Image is especially pertinent in sales and marketing, which I specialised in. I always knew which of my schoolmates had project presentations on a particular day because a group of them would be clad in color-coordinated business attire, huddling around a laptop, with a stack of papers (presumably scripts or presentation notes) in their hands.
Where I am working now, good appearance compliments actual performance and ability (not only to meet or exceed work targets but also to get along with bosses and colleagues). Although I dont meet clients or attend external meetings very often, colleagues tend to make comparisons and gossip about how others dress up in the office, and I noticed that the better-looking ones tend to be get ahead in the corporate jungle.
(continued in Part 2)
- tagline for TV commercial -
For someone who believes that Beauty is more than skin deep, I have become increasingly particular about the skincare products I use on my hair, face and body, and also more interested in skincare knowledge.
Although I hold firmly to the belief that human kindness, discipline, diligence, sense of morality and justice (what I consider to be "inner beauty"), I have always appreciated aesthetic beauty in the form of good looks and physique, natural landscapes and various works of art/design. In my younger days, I spent more of my time consciously pursuing the former. Honestly, when I look back, I think my rationale was more to please others and to be accepted by those around me, than to do what I think is "right". My "character building" activities included attending church, standing up for what I think is "right", being filial towards my parents and doing volunteering work.
As my life experience grows, I start to realise that I am no longer consciously pursuing these things. This is not to say that I am satisfied with whatever I have achieved or moulded through "character building" - there is plenty of room for improvement. I'm glad that I had a solid foundation, without which I would not have a good anchor in a society where moral standards keep shifting and people say "nothing is absolute and everything is relative". In my daily life I do reflect on my deeds and misdeeds and ponder over what I see or experience to make sure that I do not get sidetracked or lose my sense of direction.
In school I was conscious about my appearance, not so much because of vanity as because of peer pressure. Simply put, geeks or "country-bumpkins" were not acceptable by the standards upheld by teens - being "hip" or trendy was a pre-requisite to popularity and happiness as I knew it.
During my army days, the importance of a neat and well-groomed appearance was underscored by periodic disciplinary enforcement in the form of "extra duties" or punishment that the Regimental Sergeant Major meted out to all the enlisted national servicemen. The message was clear: either you cut your hair short or you will have your precious weekends cut short.
When I attended business school at university, I learnt that a professional image leaves a good impression and is a key ingredient to success. Image is especially pertinent in sales and marketing, which I specialised in. I always knew which of my schoolmates had project presentations on a particular day because a group of them would be clad in color-coordinated business attire, huddling around a laptop, with a stack of papers (presumably scripts or presentation notes) in their hands.
Where I am working now, good appearance compliments actual performance and ability (not only to meet or exceed work targets but also to get along with bosses and colleagues). Although I dont meet clients or attend external meetings very often, colleagues tend to make comparisons and gossip about how others dress up in the office, and I noticed that the better-looking ones tend to be get ahead in the corporate jungle.
(continued in Part 2)
posted by sunshine wallflower at 2:16 PM
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