From Tolerating Ugly to Curating Beauty

I never looked twice at pens.

They’re just pens.

If they’re cute, they go into the basket.

Little details that made me smile at first glance?

Yes, that’s coming home with me.

I used to choose like that.

Based on how something looked.

How it felt in the moment.

How easy it was to say yes.

And for a while, it seemed fine.

Until I started using them.

Ink that skips.

Lines that break.

Pens that hesitate mid-thought.

Small interruptions.

But constant.

At first, I ignored it.

I told myself—

it still works.

I can adjust.

I can press harder.

Write slower.

Shake the pen and try again.

Draw circles until I filled up a whole page.

But something shifted.

Because I realized…

it wasn’t just about the pen.

It was about what I was willing to tolerate.

Tiny frictions.

Quiet interruptions.

Things that didn’t quite meet me…

but I kept anyway.

Not because they were good.

But because they were already there.

And the cost?

Not obvious.

Just a subtle loss of flow.

A pause where there should have been ease.

A break where there should have been continuity.

It made something simple

feel harder than it should be.

So I changed how I choose.

Now, I pay attention to how something performs.

Not just how it looks.

Beauty in and out.

I reach for pens that glide.

Mildliner.

Mattehop.

Sarasa.

Even some Daiso pens are very good.

Ink that moves the way my thoughts do—

steady, uninterrupted, clean.

And the difference?

Immediate.

No hesitation.

No adjusting.

No quiet frustration building in the background.

Just flow.

Now when something doesn’t work—

I don’t keep it.

Not out of guilt.

Not out of habit.

Not because I already said yes once.

I try.

I check.

And if it still resists?

I let it go.

Because I understand this now:

What looks beautiful outside doesn’t always translate inside…

Or the way it functions.

Sometimes they look cute.

Convenient.

But you feel the difference later.

When you uncap that pen and start writing.

Or when you apply that blush that looked so good in the packaging -

But muddy on your face.

In the friction.

In the resistance.

In the way something slowly pulls you out of alignment.

So I stopped tolerating ugly things.

Not just in appearance—

but in function.

In energy.

In experience.

And I started curating beauty.

The kind that supports you.

The kind that works with you.

The kind that lets you move

without interruption.

Not louder.

Not more.

Just better.

With intention.

With clarity.

With quiet standards that no longer bend.

And now?

I choose differently.

Not based on what’s available.

But on what actually meets me.

On what’s beautiful in all areas, not just on the surface.

Because I’ve learned this the hard way:

What you allow—

you eventually feel.

And what you choose well?

Carries you.

—-

With elegance and quiet fire,
Lady E

Founder, Glow by Lady E
An editorial space for stories, art, and intentional living

Soul Notes: For Your Journal Tonight

Come sit with me for a while. I have my journal open, and tonight I’ve been thinking about something I suspect I do more often than I realize. I turn healing into another thing I need to accomplish. I want to know when I’ll be over something. When I’ll stop thinking about it. When something that hurt will finally stop hurting. When I’ll feel like myself again. And somewhere along the way, healing quietly becomes another deadline. Another invisible date on a calendar. Another thing I can somehow be late for. But maybe healing doesn’t work particularly well under project management. Maybe there are things I will understand quickly and things I’ll have to revisit again and again. Maybe I’ll feel completely fine one day and unexpectedly tender the next. That doesn’t mean I’ve gone backwards. It means I’m still moving through it. I remember one day, many years ago, when I had fibromyalgia. I lived in constant pain. I just couldn’t get a good day. And then one day, in the office...

Used to the Last Drop: The Ones I’d Already Told You About

There’s something particularly satisfying about finishing a product you’ve already written about. Not testing it. Not forming first impressions. Not wondering whether I’ll still like it three weeks from now. Finished. My Molang Honey sheet masks and this body scrub both made it all the way to the end. (Finally for the Molang sheet masks, right?) I’ve reviewed both before, so I won’t review them all over again here. But perhaps using something until there is nothing left to use is its own kind of review. Beauty products come through my bathroom rather frequently. Some are lovely for a week. Some get pushed to the back of a shelf. Some simply stop working for me. And then there are the ones that quietly disappear because I kept reaching for them. Maybe an empty container is the shortest review of all. I liked it enough to finish it. If you want to read my thought about these products, just type them on my search bar. —- With elegance and quiet fire, Lady E Founder, Glow by Lady E...

Part 1: I Finally Had Enough of My Dry Feet and Did Something About It

I have been annoyed with my feet for months. Not because there was anything particularly wrong with them. They were just dry . Really dry. And you know I have a problem with dryness (hello skin, lips). And somehow, despite noticing this constantly, I kept doing absolutely nothing about it. The moment that gets me every time is when I’m waiting for my son at piano class. I’ll sit down, cross my legs, look down at my slip-ons or sandals and there they are. My dry, flaky feet. Then I become painfully aware that there are other people sitting beside me who can probably see them too. 😂 Every time, I think, I really need to do something about this. And then piano class ends, life resumes, and apparently my feet are no longer part of my jurisdiction. Eventually, I had enough. I found this Mond’Sub Chamomile Foot Peeling Spray at KKV and decided that my poor neglected feet were finally getting some attention. The process wasn’t glamorous. There was peeling skin involved. There were bits...

Glow by Lady E

Search This Blog