Mama-luia

I'm not sure whether I conveyed what I had intended to with my last post ; I am not wallowing around, feeling unattractive. While I certainly have moments of feeling insecure about this or that aspect of my appearance, for the most part, I look in the mirror and feel quite delighted by what I see . I believe myself to be beautiful. The problem is, to what extent do I need to 'enhance' or 'adorn' that beauty with physical things? That question can't possibly be answered right now. I think it will be a continuous process of examining my heart (as in, in dressing in a certain way, who am I trying to please? What am I trying to say about myself?). For now, I want to be a bit more practical... and fun! So here is a little sampling of beautiful things that are inspiring my upcoming Operation: Defrump-ify.  1. This dress from eshakti .  I love the colour, the neckline, the little cap sleeves, the embroidery.  It's gorgeous, I say! 2. ...

"Beauty will save the world." (So said Dostoevsky, so it must be true.) I have been thinking about this quotation a lot lately. I could easily make a case for beauty in the liturgy saving the world, for beauty in art -- broadly speaking -- for doing so; it seems perfectly sensible and true. Beauty, if you're up on your philosophy, is a transcendental, convertible with truth, goodness and being itself. Since God is all-good, and all-truth, He must also be all-beautiful . So things of beauty bring our hearts and minds to Him. This is simple enough for me to grasp and believe. What becomes more difficult is understanding how this should apply to me . I feel like I have two minds on this subject. On the one hand, I think too much an emphasis on external beauty is unhealthy. It can lead to vanity and insecurity, covetousness and materialism, and you-name-it sin. Plus it says in 1 Peter "your beauty should not come from outward adornment... Rather it should ...

Every year, as Lent approaches, I find myself dreaming of all sorts of interesting penances or disciplines I'll take on. This year, I think, I will de-clutter the entire house! I will get up at 5am and pray and exercise! I will abstain from meat, dairy, nightshades, sugar, caffeine and vegetables with the letter 'o' in them! And then see how holy I will become! (Can't you almost hear my immense ego cackle?) And every year, somehow, God reminds me how petty these plans of mine are, and how very much more He wants to me focus on one thing -- drawing closer to Him. All my Lent-plans are always about me -- who I want to be, what I want to push myself into doing or being. I was so touched by this  post: What if, this Lent, instead of swearing ourselves off all food or motorized vehicular transportation, what if we challenged ourselves to do one thing – one teeny, tiny, small thing solely for the love of God or our neighbour.    And what if we didn’t just...