Beauty greatly influences politics.  I’m not talking about shading in your eyebrows or long lasting lipstick.  I’m talking about what we perceive to be beautiful.

Our scope and definition of what is beautiful has historically been rather narrowly defined.   I’m sure you’re familiar with those expectations as you look in the mirror every day and judge yourself.   I do it too.  But beauty is constantly changing.  Well, I should say, our perception of what is beautiful is constantly changing.  I love that it now includes various body types and skin colors, religions and orientation.

And that scope is still widening.

As we stretch ourselves, we find beauty everywhere and in the most unusual places.  We begin to embrace and appreciate people who are different — and beautiful.  I’ve felt myself gradually stretching and I’ve started feeling more comfortable with my own imperfections.

And that’s where politics comes in — how we feel about ourselves and others is really at the heart of the policies we make.  Whether we are coming from the more conservative or more progressive side, the more narrowly we define beauty the less generous we are with ourselves and with others.  We tend to be more judgmental, measuring anyone and everyone by some imaginary, arbitrary ruler.  We tend to be less understanding, less forgiving, and easily offended.  That gets reflected in our political conversations and eventually our laws.

But when we broaden that scope, letting more beautiful things in, we are happier, more understanding, and often generous.  And that gets reflected in our political conversations and eventually our laws too.

It might be tempting to reject “last season’s” designs.  As we expand our view, we don’t need to take beauty away from anything to make ourselves beautiful.

There’s a limitless amount — plenty for all.