Spirit And Exquisite Moments And Being Pretty And Beautiful At The Same Time Elita Sohmer Clayman

I read this on my friend Diana’s Facebook page.

There is a difference between pretty and beautiful. When someone is pretty, they have a good appearance. When somebody is beautiful, they shine on the inside and the outside.

This is a very remarkable few lines. I have known very pretty ladies who are very shallow and weak ladies. They may dress in designer clothing; always have their hair looking as if they just stepped out of the door of the hair salon, and their nails done to perfection, like they never use their hands to type on the computer or to wash their face. There are others who may not appear as outwardly gorgeous as above mentioned ladies; but they are deeply beautiful on the inside. This inside beauty shines through in their personality, their kindness, their empathy and most of all from their heart. These people do not need to be measured with an electrocardiogram. They would shine through the electric of the heart checking machine for sure.

Some people sparkle the minute you speak with them. Other who may seem quiet can still be effervescent by merely smiling at you. I know of a very handsome man who when he looks at you, you feel as if you are the most gorgeous woman on this earth. He has this quality of looking at you and not sexually, but of seeing the insides of your heart and soul. He brings out the goodness in the person he is talking to by simply looking you in your eyes and appears to be digesting every word you say. That is an exquisite attribute for one to have. He has spoken to me many times and that is how I feel when he and I have a conversation. On the other hand, I knew of a professor I had in college many years ago who you would say was ordinary looking. He was much older than me; also, when he spoke it was as if he thought you the kindest, smartest and prettiest lady he had ever met. He on the other hand was not handsome in looks; he was handsome in the quality of his voice, his tone, his manner and his thoughtfulness. He made all the women in his college class who were older than the usual teen classmates; feel as if he was talking only to them, cared only about them and most of all, that he was very interested in their viewpoint on life, being a mom, being a wife and most of all being a person. He himself was the greatest example of a good person who was involved in the community, in the classroom and most of all, in life.

I use to say to him that his involvement in my life, college wise, was the best investment I had made in many of my thirty something years at that time. If they had sold stock in the stock market bearing his name, the stock would have been worth millions per share in an imaginary stock market system.

I had an uncle like that. Uncle Louie who I mentioned in many articles written so far here. He had a shining personality, some of his detractors called it phony; I called it as his niece. as sunshine filling the room when he visited. This was him, his smile was wide, his heart was generous and his understanding friendly.

Others I know are the opposite. They exude unsmiling faces, harsh words, no optimism thoughts and most of all make you feel not so happy when they leave your space. I often felt these people invaded my space for those moments or hours and I would rather have been alone without them coming into the area of my heart. Even when a person says your name, there can be a hint of how they and you will react to each other. When I was back in Catonsville Community College, I was school days friendly with a girl or lady of about my age. We would study together for a half hour after class and then we both had to run home to get our children from elementary school. One day she made a nasty remark about a professor and I told her that it was not proper for her to say that. Somehow, she told her friends that I had made the remark and everyone looked at me suspiciously wondering how a nice lady like me would say that. It got back to me and I confronted her and she said that everyone knew I was nice and kind and that they did not think that of her. So she decided to say I said those demeaning words, thinking that no one would believe it. Well, it got back to the professor and I was called in at age thirty-five for an answer why I had done that. I spoke the truth and said it was her, not me. They called her in and she admitted it in front of me, in front of the class and before the demeaned professor. She appeared as a fool and hardly anyone ever stayed in her presence after that. What she attempted to do was a bit of adult bullying and it came around full circle to her because she was the one, who was ostracized, mostly for her trying to indict someone else for her foolish rants. Of course, I came out as the angel, the nice person, the good person and I was vindicated in this silly, childish vociferation.

Many years later, we were in San Francisco and she happened to be there visiting the same spot we were viewing. She came up to me and tried to be friendly; I wanted no parts of her or her evil personality. She made a huge mistake and I hope she learned an adult minute of; it is not so nice to lie and try to put on someone else your faults. Politicians do this every day and they seem to get away with it.The public may act like they forget it, but often at election time, the public shows they remember it and they vote with their hearts against phony people who do this.

If you are pretty on the outside, I know I am (modest me for almost seventy-eight), that is a wonderful thing; if you are beautiful on the inside (which I try to be), then you have the best of both worlds. You are pretty and beautiful and then you not only shine on the inside and outside too, you sparkle and light up the space and area you occupy. Yesterday, we went to the jewelry store we frequent for purchases and repairs of some trinkets. The manager Diana did not feel too well. As soon, as she raised her head to see we were there, she said “you make me smile when you both come in. I am glad you came.” I said to her “we came not only to pick up a jewelry repair job; we came, because you make us laugh with your lovely laugh and you make us feel good.” Sometimes, she buys my husband a box of Godiva chocolates which are sold across the way from the Littmans Jewelry store where she works. Chocolate eating gives one a caffeine rush and sure is good going down, however, kindness, inside beauty and chocolate also gives one a sweet awakening and lifts your spirits. Lifting your own spirits or someone else’s perception of themselves is surely a gift. It is a lasting gift which lingers forever in the person’s mind and makes them feel beautiful inside and out. Longfellow said spirit is “a vital breath of ethereal air.”

Let us all experience exquisite ethereal times.