Beauty finds and attaches itself to us all in as many different ways as there are people and moments.
For some it is merely a fleeting joy, embraced and released to be carried away by time.
But there are some who seek to mark their bodies with it through tattoos or scars or other markings
needing to impress it with visible permanence, a constant reminder,
that unique something they wish to carry with them the rest of their days,
visible to those who choose to look, with a casual glance or sustained searching.
And there are some who seek the same, to carry it with them the entirety of their days and nights and in-betweens,
but it is their very souls that carry that mark, that eternally impressed beauty,
forever inscribed unbidden yet embraced fully in an irreversible flash of an instant
no knives or needles required
only eyes and ears and souls, open and waiting, seeking and craving
a mark deeper, a moment burning brighter,
transcending language or wisdom, intention or will
invisible to the untrained and unwilling eye
No matter how or where we carry the beauty that marks us all, we all carry it with us,
though it is only often visible to the open souls,
whether it is painted on the skin or woven on the soul.
By Cat Stoothoff
