What is true beauty? Well, I can tell you it’s not the airbrushed kind that’s plastered all over your Instagram feed. I mean the kind that gets you out of bed in the morning without needing to drown yourself in a sea of overpriced cosmetics. The true beauty I’m thinking of involves three things—humility, grace, and diligence. That’s what I like to call the “True Beauty Trio,” though I’m fully aware it sounds like the title of another pulp self-help book.
Humility
Humility, in its purest form, means not being a pompous ass. Recognize that you’re not the center of the universe. No, you need not grovel or feign humility in the hopes of fishing for compliments. Real humility is admitting when you’ve royally screwed up, owning it, and moving on—preferably with some semblance of dignity intact. It’s about doing things for the right reasons, not just padding your résumé or impressing the neighbors.
Grace
I’m not talking about the kind of grace that allows you to float through life like a prima ballerina. For my purposes here, Grace means navigating life’s obstacles without face-planting every five seconds—a skill I’m still trying to master, by the way. It’s not like you must be pirouetting through life’s challenges with effortless elegance, though if you can do that, more power to you. It’s about handling situations with a kind of understated finesse, which, let’s face it, most of us only achieve on our best days.
Diligence
Diligence is a beautiful quality that doesn’t get nearly enough credit. It’s the “tireless” part of the True Beauty Trio—the unglamorous, unfiltered work that no one sees, but everyone benefits from. I greatly admire people who keep going, despite everything life throws at them, with enough determination to make even the Energizer Bunny jealous. Now, that’s what I call sexy. Sure, it’s not the kind of sexy that sells perfume, but it’s the kind that keeps relationships, careers, and societies afloat. Diligence is about working hard, not just because you must, but because you know it’s what will get you through the day. If you can even make the world a slightly better place while you’re at it, all the better.
Confidence
So, when you mix the ingredients of humility, grace, and diligence in just the right proportions you get confidence—the kind that doesn’t need validation from a comments section or a like button. It’s not the sort to strut around demanding attention; it simply exists, content in the knowledge that it’s the real deal. It needs no filters, no edits, and no frills. It doesn’t need to scream for attention because it knows its worth. Of course, that’s something the beauty industry would prefer you never discover.
Now, you may not reach Nirvana by embodying the True Beauty Trio. But you’ll feel more human, a bit more grounded, and much less like a product of a society that’s constantly trying to sell you a new version of yourself. What if we all did that? Well, we might just start a revolution, hopefully not the kind that requires pitchforks. The revolutions I prefer are the kind fought with small acts of humility, grace, and diligence. In the meantime, let’s all work on becoming little more confident and a lot less concerned with what the mirror—or anyone else—has to say.
~ Amelia Desertsong
