Where does beauty begin? Does it start in the genes, or in the womb? Does beauty begin in the home, through the rituals seen, heard, and passed from mother to daughter, from the elder to the younger? Does beauty begin in the bedroom of the BFF, the best friend forever, before a shared mirror? Or does it commence in the accessory store at the mall, at a tattoo parlor, or on a college campus? Perhaps beauty begins in the eye of the beholder.

All of these are likely places. However, I believe beauty begins within. I believe it has its origins in the psyche, and in the eyes of the one to whom beauty belongs.

Then it must not belong to me, the woman with the crooked nose might say. But I say, so you fell as a girl. So your nose became bent, or even broken. Perhaps it was not set, or maybe it was, but not quite right, or not to your liking. Nevertheless to all of that I say, your nose now gives your face character. This new nose makes your face uniquely yours. I have heard it said that somewhere in the world everyone has a twin. Well now you do not. You, with all those things that you deem flaws, are an original. You are an incomparable beauty, if only you will recognize it.

So there, I guess we have our answer. Beauty begins from within. It starts with the way we see ourselves, the way in which we choose to feel about ourselves.

Question, have you ever seen a woman, an ethnic beauty that you just could not keep your eyes off of? I know that as children some of us were taught that it is impolite to stare. Nevertheless, your eyes strayed back to Beautiful Ethnic Sister many times. Although you may not have been conscious of it, you wondered, what is it about her? What makes her so attractive, so appealing? You wondered what it was that kept drawing your eye.

Upon closer inspection, realization struck. Beautiful really was no more special than you. I know this has happened because it is what we as women, as ethnic sisters of all creeds and colors, do. With shocking clarity, we realize that the eyes of our beautiful ethnic sister, her lips, her hands, and even her figure, are not singularly fantastic. However, as a whole, she is stunning! Then you may have also realized, as I have, on occasion, that the beauty of our ethnic sister is ethereal. It shines out from within. Her beauty is a light, one that radiates from the inside to the outside. It can be readily seen, in the self-assured way that Beautiful carries herself, in her smile, in the graceful movements of her hands. Through her overall attitude this woman is clearly stating, I care about me.

That, my ethnic sisters is where beauty begins. It starts from within. Whether you make up your face or not, whether you have whitened your teeth, gained weight, or ironed your hair, beauty begins from within. When we know this, unequivocally, then it will radiate outward, in our shy smile, or our raucous laughter. It will be visible, in the way we comb our hair, or shave our head. It will be shown in the way we care for an ailing parent or a young child, or through the way we flirt with a lover.

Beauty begins with self love. Therefore, it does not matter what you once heard, what someone once said, or what he or she did. Today, my ethnic sisters, allow beauty to begin, or begin anew, within you!