Defining & Defying The Concept of Beauty
How I encountered the most beautiful woman in Melbourne.
If self-expression is your core value, Melbourne is the place to be. Whether it’s through stylish clothing or experimental looks, you will meet a lot of attractive people in this city. I’ve always loved to experiment with makeup or clothing because I find it joyful. But I’m not gonna lie, I like to dress up because I also crave the external validation that comes with looking stylish. As a woman, I always feel the need to participate in an invisible beauty pageant. No matter how pretty and talented you are, nothing ever feels enough. And when everything fades, where do you go?
The universe gave me an answer through a woman named Francesca Andrea, an Argentinian immigrant in Melbourne. Andrea isn’t the most outstanding or stylish person in the room, but she is the most beautiful woman that I’ve met in Melbourne.
When I first met Andrea, she didn’t strike me as someone who tried to grab the spotlight. It was almost like you could walk past her on the street without noticing her presence. When I first met her, I didn’t think she was very warm, but neither was she unfriendly. I realised that I was probably a stranger at her home, as I was only friends with her boyfriend Ricardo.
I sat next to Andy at dinner, eating the Asado (traditional Argentinian barbecue) the couple had prepared. “So what do you do for work, Andy?” I asked, a fork with a piece of pork sausage hanging next to my face.
“I used to work as an accountant in Argentina but now I work in hospitality,” she replied. “I think I’m just living in survival mode though,” she added with a chuckle. “How about you? What do you do?”
“I’m working with a foundation that does blood cancer research,” I replied. “It’s a little confronting because my dad died from cancer nine years ago. But it’s an interesting job – these people are quite literally trying to find a cure for cancer. I don’t know if I like it though.”
Andrea nodded her head. “Well, either way, it’s a new experience. You may not get the same experience in the future.”
She did sound like a practical woman, an interesting contrast with Ricardo, whom I’ve always known as a laid-back and adventurous person. I wonder what it was about her that made him choose her.
We finished our meals an hour later. I noticed a tarot deck sitting on a shelf next to the dining table, so I suggested a cheeky tarot reading session. While Ricardo was shuffling the deck, I started sharing my experience with tarot reading with Andrea. I was describing the major arcana cards that popped up in a reading that I had a few months ago when Andrea suddenly tilted her head and rested it against her hands. That was the first time she looked me in the eye. Her gaze focused on me and her lips curled into a smile, as if she really cared for my thoughts on The Lovers card. Suddenly I felt like a child, alone with her in that dining room, frozen in time. And I never expected someone so ordinary to paralyse me. But I could’ve stayed there forever because something about her made me feel safe and grounded.
That was the answer, staring right back at me. When everything fades, someone like Andrea will persevere. She is the rising sun that greets you when you come out of a party at 6 am. A gentle reminder for you to go home and rest. She doesn’t keep you alive with pleasures, but rather, senses. And sometimes, all you need is senses to feel enough.
Suddenly, I realised how beautiful she looked. Her dimples. Her smiling eyes and the dark brown irises. The way her black hair framed her face. A photograph forever etched in my mind. Suddenly, I understood why Ricardo fell in love with Andrea. Because from that brief moment alone, I knew that I would, I would fall in love with her too.
In my prayer tonight, I will be asking God to let me remember Francesca Andrea from Argentina, for as long as I live. Because of her, I can trust that I am as beautiful as I am and that someday, someone will see me as their morning sun too.