Monday, December 22, 2008

The Starting Point

Since every journey has a starting point, I figured I should try to assess where I am right now. How elegant am I now?

Of course, I need to know what exactly I'm asking, which begins by knowing what elegance is. When I look it up, this is what I find:

  • a. Refinement, grace, and beauty in movement, appearance, or manners.
  • b. Tasteful opulence in form, decoration, or presentation
  • c. Restraint and grace of style.
  • d. Scientific exactness and precision
  • e. A refined quality of gracefulness and good taste
  • f. beauty as resulting from choice qualities and the complete absence of what deforms or impresses unpleasantly
So... D doesn't really fit what I'm trying to do here, but the others pretty much highlight where this is going. As of right now, I think that I possess most of these characteristics to some extent. I try to make the best choices as far as things I do, say, wear, take interest in, etc., although admittedly there are times when I could care less about that. I try to stay graceful and restrained in most situations, but there are plenty of times when I am course, crass, and an all around horrid person. I'm seeking to change that. I'm not quite starting at square one, since I know some rules of decorum and how to behave as a proper woman should, but there are many improvements to be made.
And of course I have plenty of questions that have to be answered along the way, like
  1. Are the ideas and ideals of elegance universal?
  2. What does it mean to be an elegant black woman?
  3. is it possible to embrace the traditional ideas of elegance and without losing my own identity? (no Stepford wives here!)
Maybe someone somewhere will have some answers for me :)

No comments: