Standard Of Beauty

Deep down, I think everyone in the world has what could be described as their own personal "standard of beauty." A sort of baseline they use to judge what fits their concept of what is aesthetically pleasing.

Not in any deeper sense than what the senses can pick up, naturally. Skin-deep, if you will. I'm really not that different from most assuming my thoughts are accurate. There is something --- or rather, someone --- I hold up as the standard by which I judge whether or not something has a beautiful appearance.

See, I've met my fair share of beauties in my life. I confess I've never been that close to most of them, and in some cases the whole thing was just me being a cold acquaintance, but it was never one of hostility. I guess, deep down, I've always adhered to the simple philosophy I formulated late in high school: be nice to the girls and girls will be nice to you.

There is one, however, who has managed to stick in my mind. A girl of such beauty that it is, frankly, hard not to use her as a benchmark for judging the appearances of everyone and everything else.

From what I recall, she's not just physically beautiful either. I remember her being generally friendly and personable, if not quite the type to associate with just anyone. She was also very smart --- not a genius, but she had a good grasp of academics between her shoulders. She was, overall, a very nice person. Likable, even lovable. But we were never close. Which makes it rather odd for me to realize just how much she's lingering in my thoughts lately.

I haven't seen her in years, not since high school graduation. I've never heard from here either, and it is really unlikely I will ever hear from her when once considers my relatively isolationist tendencies. Yet she lingers in my mind.

Lately, her visage has been more prominently manifesting in my mind. I swear I can hear her voice every so often, saying things I heard her say years before. I can't figure out why I'm remembering her now, though. I can't think of anything that might trigger such recurring, rather prominent thoughts.

The thoughts are not romantic or intimate, either. Platonic, essentially. I'm not sure why I'm thinking of her, of finding some way to contact her, even if it means violating my own principles and signing up for some soul-sucking social network.

I must ponder this a bit, and try not to let my thinking of her distract me.