(I hope you’re singing along right now!) What makes a woman beautiful? It’s unique to every man, every person. I see beauty in my daughter’s creativity, her independent spirit. My husband sees his daughter’s cheerful smile, the way she admires him. I don’t even what to know what the 16 year old boys in her class see, but I know her friends see someone who listens, who gives wise advice.
It’s these inner qualities that make a heroine beautiful. (and likewise, a man handsome!) However, they are specific to each person. So,what does your hero see in your heroine? How do we discover your heroine’s unique beauty?
We start “with the eye of the beholder” and we look at their vacancies, and their strengths.
1. What are your beholder’s vacancies?
What do I mean? Everyone has things they are not good at. Maybe it’s the tendency to speak when you should listen. Maybe it’s being wound so tight you can’t relax. Maybe it’s the inability to commit to something, for fear of it backfiring. Whatever it is, we are often drawn to someone who has a strength in that area. I’m hearing Jerry Maguire in my head, “You…complete me.” It’s those opposite, completing qualities that a hero might find attractive (as well as, sometimes, annoying!) My sweet hubby can be brusque and insensitive sometimes. He counts on me to be the gentle one, to clue him into his foibles. How does your heroine complement or balance the hero?
2. What are your beholder’s strengths?
My husband is an adventurer. He loves to travel, and discover new things. And he loves the fact that I am a willing participant. Not only that, I hand over my visa and the map and say, “wherever we end up, I trust you.” (This has taken some training over the years!) But I’ve heard him say, “I love the fact that you keep up with me.” Beauty is also found in acceptance, encouragement, and like-mindedness. A man loves a woman who loves the things he loves. What does your heroine do that affirms the hero? That accentuates his strengths.
As the story goes, your hero will see the outside of your heroine less and less, and her inside more and more, which will only accentuate her beauty on the outside. If she has freckles and lots of wild hair that at first is off-putting, he might gradually see her laughter and acceptance of him, and begin to love how they reveal her personality, until he adores those freckles and wild hair.
It doesn’t just apply to heroes, either. It can be a mother-daughter relationship, or a friend to friend relationship – because we all have vacancies and strengths, and those in our lives either complement them or accentuate them.
Keep sending in those beauty secrets to booktherapy@susanmaywarren.com! We’ll be posting some of them on Friday, and everyone who sends one will be eligible to win a copy of Rachel Hauck’s newest book, Sweet Caroline. And, if you are working on your heroine’s beauty treatment, and need some help (or want to help others), head over to Voices!
See you tomorrow; when we talk about modern day movies that reveal true beauty in a heroine!