in order to *feel* beautiful

there must be someone who *sees* you as beautiful ('in the eye of the beholder,' right?)

'Beauty' is a reflected quality - that is, it does not exist as an absolute. "No accounting for taste," is another bit of evidence for that premise.

I learned this the hard way: I grew up with a father who would *not* acknowledge my 'beauty', no matter what. It was almost as if it was physically *painful* for him to acknowledge, in any way, shape or form, *any* of my positive attributes - intelligence, playfulness, musical talent - and most *certainly* not any of my physical beauties.

It's *not* that I'm some kind of movie star - far from it - but I'm attractive, goddammit - *many* people have told me so, in different ways, over the course of a long life.

What I've learned is: Spend time in the company of people who *like* you, just the way you are. This is the very best soul medicine you'll *ever* find, and is the healer of damn near *any* kind of 'illness' from which you may suffer.