Originally Posted by
Hawkeye13 
Hi lifetplant;
As I recall you are a Rilke fan. Me too. This quote seems applicable:
Faces
Have I said it before? I am learning to see. Yes, I am beginning. It's still going badly. But I intend to make the most of my time.
For example, it never occurred to me before how many faces there are. There are multitudes of people, but there are so many more faces, because each person has several of them. There are people who wear the same face for years; naturally it wears out, gets dirty, splits at the seams, stretches like gloves worn during a long journey. They are thrifty, uncomplicated people; they never change it, never even have it cleaned. It's good enough, they say, and who can convince them of the contrary? Of course, since they have several faces, you might wonder what they do with the other ones. They keep them in storage. Their children wear them. But sometimes it also happens that their dogs go out wearing them. And why not? A face is a face.
Other people change faces incredibly fast, put on one after another, and wear them out. At first, they think they have an unlimited supply; but when they are barely forty years old they come to their last one. There is, to be sure, something tragic about this. They are not accustomed to taking care of faces; their last one is worn through in a week, has holes in it, is in many places as thin as paper, and then, little by little, the lining shows through, the non-face, and they walk around with that on.
--Rainer Maria Rilke
I often think about how many times I've changed my face, and how I've run out of changes and must now make do with this last one.
But perhaps the lines, the wear and etching of hard-won rounds are where the beauty actually lies and the cult of Beauty has us all fooled.
Thank you so much for that Hawkeye...........yep it's all said right there. He was indeed a genius, I should get back to reading more.
This question was never intended as a discussion about aesthetics but there is a bit of vanity there. I challenge anyone to argue otherwise. Surely looking healthy on the outside screams volumes of how healthy we are on the inside, physically and mentally, perhaps to a lesser degree spiritually, i'm not talking botox here, never had it or any other forms of treatment in my life. My intention ever to quit has never been solely about looks, it's just yet another motivating factor to add to the what seems a never-ending list, unfortunately still one I have yet to achieve.
I was just interested in other peoples thoughts.
Thank you to all for your replies.