What is "Natural Beauty"?

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The other day I learned a way to prove that every person is beautiful. I am in a communications class called Iconomy. The class focuses on the visual world and the significance behind images, especially iconic symbols, like the Nike swoosh or the Apple logo. It is taught by an unusual professor, who doesn't believe in cell phones, is obsessed with Marshall McLuhan and has 9 children. This professor's classes may have been an influence behind this post about unplugging and this other post about reading more. But most importantly we have been talking about physical beauty recently.

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We have been talking about The Golden Mean or the Fibonacci Ratio. This is the most pleasing and beautiful proportion known to man. It is found in many natural phenomena, but it is also replicated int eh most famous works of art. It is why we position the focal points of our photos in the two-thirds area of the frame. Learn more about it here. Recently Dr. Schuchardt had us measure our own bodies from navel to head in order to calculate whether we had perfectly Fibonacci bodily proportions. This involved a complex math thing, which, if you have read this post or this one, you know math is not something I am good at. Each person in the class was only about 5% off of a perfect 100% Fibonacci score--meaning that our bodies are wonderfully proportionate. The point of the exercise was a way to celebrate the way that God has designed our bodies so perfectly. I myself got a 95% score. I am not perfect, but I would definitely receive an A in Fibonacci! 

I thought of this today in class as something I should share with you all. It is encouraging to think about this when I get down on my body. I do a lot of comparing of my body with other people's. I look to see if I have skinnier calves or a smaller waist. My eye is sharply attuned to notice these little critical details, but I often forget the larger picture. My body was designed by God. It is a piece of masterful craftsmanship. I hope this is an uplifting reminder for you as well. Do I still feel like a dumpy wad of chewing gum sometimes? Yes. But that's not the point! I need to look at my body through a design point of view sometimes in order to survive.