Ā鶹“«Ć½

ā€œSpring is a happiness so beautiful, so unique, so unexpected, that I donā€™t know what to do with my heartā€ - E. Dickinson

You guys have no idea how hard Iā€™ve been stalking the weather app lately. After weeks of rain, chill, mud, and more rain, nothing is better than the warm feeling of sun on my skin and the sweetness of the air around me. God knows my plants love the sun more than I do, lol.

Iā€™ve been waiting for spring for what seems to be a rather long time. Ninety-nine percent of the time, Iā€™m usually wearing a sweatshirt and baggy jeans as I am the living embodiment of a human lizard. Not MARVELā€™s ā€œThe Lizardā€ who has a really freakinā€™ cool backstory and storyline, but a STEM major who cannot step into a lab without immediately putting a jacket on under their lab coat.

In order to maintain Beatrice-level homeostatic balance, one must:

1. Outside time. Full sun, for at least thirty minutes.
2. Movement.Yoga, Pilates, walking around the city, hiking- something that will get blood moving and limbs working.
• I was the one who got lost at Disneyworld
• Why I like working in restaurants so much
3. High-vitamin foods (AKA throwing or incorporating veggies into anything I can)
4. Creativity. Reading, writing, journaling, drawing painting. Anything creative must be done at least once in one day
• One of the very reasons why I enjoy being a blogger, actually. This never feels like work to me, ever. Itā€™s awesome.
5. Music.

Combining all of these, you have a pretty happy camper. My music taste is a lot of Indie pop, ā€œgranolaā€ music (those who know, know), pop, some rap here and there, lofi chill, R&B, 70s/80s hits, etc. Oh, also Lady Gaga. I love Lady Gaga. Sheā€™s her own genre at this point. Anyhow, I digress.

With all of these things comes a feeling of beauty to me, and I think thatā€™s really important. We often see beauty as being an external factor of life, which, oftentimes, it is. We canā€™t ask for the personality of a rose or a cheetah, but we can admire their patterns and colors. Yet, when it comes to humankind, beauty is seen on the inside and outside.

Itā€™s cheesy, but true.

For as long as I can remember, Iā€™ve always tried to change my body. Something was always out of place, yā€™know? Armpit fat. Hip dips. That line of hair on your leg that you missed in the shower, bed hair, acne, waking up puffy because you were crying all night or studying, the taste of your mouth in your mouth on a Saturday morning, etc.

Itā€™s okay to not always be the pinnacle of beauty, as Iā€™ve realized. Your lifeā€™s purpose isnā€™t fully meant to be looked upon objectively like that. On that note, beauty never outdoes other beauty. Obviously, a really nicely decorated cake would look better than a plain one, but there is beauty in both. Perhaps the latter brings more attention to the flavor than the other. Essentially, in my eyes, beauty balances. Within the human race, there are so many types of beauty and those who adore those characteristics. For example, people have told me that I have a really nice smile. Plot twist, Iā€™ve hated my smile for a long time. It always makes my (very Sicilian) nose look bigger, and, I dunno, itā€™s weird.

But one day one of my friends told me that ā€“ when Iā€™m truly happy and laughing ā€“ have one of the best, most infectious, joyous smiles theyā€™ve seen, and it really made my day.

I believe beauty has a lot to do with what we choose to do with our life. We donā€™t have full say in our genetics, but we can dress in a way that makes us feel good about ourselves and the world we live in. I may not be able to go to the gym, but that doesnā€™t mean I cannot appreciate my bodyā€™s ability to balance in yoga or haul myself to class when Iā€™m running a little late.

(Iā€™m never actually late. I prefer being fifteen minutes early on the dot. Missing that fifteen makes me late to myself, I suppose.)

What Iā€™ve seen is that beauty projects itself. Yeah, you can match ideal beauty standards, but whatā€™s after that? Beauty doesnā€™t last forever. I wonā€™t be nineteen for all of my life, nor twenty or thirty-five or sixty, but my love for plants can remain. I can continue to be enamored with poetry and ā€œcreativeā€ my heart out. I want to be a good person. Iā€™m not sure if I actually am, as Iā€™m just a human being, but I think the effort of trying counts to some degree.

Lately, beauty has been coming in the form of taking care of myself. Eating the foods I want, doing the things I want, listening to things I want to (i.e., podcasts), reading books Iā€™d like to read, just doing the things I have grown to love in my life. Granted, schoolwork and studying blows a small hole in this plan, but Iā€™m trying.

My task for all of you is to try something that makes you feel beautiful. It could be clothes, or maybe itā€™s painting a huge something that has you super locked in. Could also include floor time or eating a brownie. Maybe you go to a place you used to go all the time and relive it. Introduce new habits to your routine. It doesnā€™t have to be Pinterest or Instagram-post worthy. All it needs to be is fulfilling to you.

I know that this was a rather quick article, but I hope you all are able to see the greater meaning behind it. Thereā€™s a lot more to life than the external, but of course, there is nothing wrong with treating yourself a little bit. In the words of my coworker: ā€œYou do your best work when you look your best,ā€ which is quite true. Anyhow, I hope you all are having a lovely week, and that you are all having a fantastic time in the beautiful weather weā€™ve been having.

I adore you all, and as always,
Beatrice ā¤ļø

Beatrice Glaviano ā€™26 is a nutrition sciences major at the University of New Haven.