If you’ve ever read a magazine, seen an ad on TV, or watched, well, anything really, then you know the world is obsessed with a concept called beauty. You see the word in countless marketing campaigns, brand names, keywords, cosmetic products, treatments, merchandising lines. You’ve seen it in movie and book titles, philosophical ideas, pamphlets, and especially on websites and blogs. And now it’s on this one!

So what’s the deal? What does it really mean?

It’s always been portrayed as a goal, or something worth striving for. It certainly is considered a compliment, culturally speaking. Our ideals of beauty have changed often over the years. It also varies considerably from culture to culture, and from person to person. It’s impossible to pin down an exact, 100% universal conception of beauty, despite the many attempts. What is desirable and beautiful to one person may not be attractive to someone else, and for vastly different reasons.

If you always try to be beautiful to all people, you’re going to become frustrated very quickly and possibly lose your mind. You just can’t keep up with it, and it eventually begins to seem pointless to do so. It’s just a loaded word, after all, just something society forces us to be for various reasons; it isn’t something actually worth striving for.

In our opinion, the shapelessness and vagueness of beauty concepts is what gives it its power. We should no longer worry about looking beautiful to other people—we should FEEL beautiful to ourselves. We’re not just talking the usual self-love ideas, or the clichés. We mean beauty should derive, first and foremost, from our mental wellness, and our ability to treat ourselves with respect. We should change the word from a physical compliment to an emotional or mental one. You’re beautiful when you’re at peace with yourself; you’re most beautiful when you’re happiest. You’re beautiful when you seek help for what stresses or bothers you, and it’s very beautiful when you feel personally fulfilled.

We’re on a mission to make this change. We want the word to mean many things to many people, but always have one thing in common: Your feelings, and your personal wellness, matter the most. And being happy with yourself is the most beautiful thing you can achieve. It’s always worth pursuing.