Beauty.

http://embed.ted.com/talks/cameron_russell_looks_aren_t_everything_believe_me_i_m_a_model.html Confession: I became mildly interested in a ridiculous dating show called “Ready for Love.” The premise is that three matchmakers aid three super-eligible bachelors to find The One. I watched the show ironically–it sets women’s rights back about a thousand years–but last night something hit me, and hard.

I’ve never really felt traditionally beautiful. I know I’m decent looking, but I’m not a model. As Cameron Russell notes in her TED talk, she hit a genetic lottery. And yet she pulls back the curtain on the industry and tells us that models are some of the most physically insecure women she’s ever met. This concept was reinforced the other night during “Ready for Love,” as I watched these gorgeous, thin, and in a few cases, smart women sob after not being chosen. Sob about not feeling good enough. Sob about feeling like they would die alone.

And suddenly, Cameron Russell’s TED talk made a whole lot of sense. Looks aren’t everything, and it’s way more important to be substantive, compassionate, and well, good. Because as trite as it sounds, those characteristics create true and lasting beauty.