Wilderness of Beauty©
In the End, Beauty Belongs to the Brave©
10/22/2025
By Florida Night Train
There’s a strange wilderness in the world of beauty.
We stand before mirrors like worshipers before an altar, chasing symmetry while our souls grow asymmetrical. We tighten, whiten, contour, inject, and project … spending billions trying to fix what time and truth will inevitably reveal. The global beauty industry now exceeds half a trillion dollars, all in the name of making the outside louder and “shinier” while the inside stays silent.
Yet few dare to service the engine that truly moves them … the heart.
I’ve watched men and women pour fortunes into the body while starving the spirit. They sculpt the frame but neglect the foundation. They chase admiration, not authenticity. And when life’s storms come…and they always do… the paint peels, the polish fades, and all that’s left is what was never maintained.
It reminds me of the guy who strolls into a dealership, mesmerized by a motorcycle gleaming under the lights. Chrome flawless, paint shimmering like temptation itself. He doesn’t check the service records or ask about the miles. The salesman flashes a smile and the buyer signs his soul away on a sheet of paper. For a while, it’s bliss; the engine roars, the wind feels like grace, and every stoplight is applause.
But soon the truth leaks out. Oil spots on the driveway. Strange noises under the tank. 
Power fading where there should be strength. Turns out the previous owner never changed the fluids, never checked the valves, never cared for the soul of the machine. It only looked fast. It only sounded right.
That’s how so many relationships start… enchanted by the surface, undone by the neglect of the unseen. We polish what the world sees while corrosion eats what it doesn’t.
I’ve met people who refuse to confront the ghosts of their past—the unresolved griefs, the unchecked pride, the habits they keep calling “personality.” They protect their image like bodywork and ignore the knocking in their chest. Then they wonder why every new love stalls at the same intersection. I know because I’ve sadly been on both sides of that fence too many times.
They keep swapping partners the way others swap paint jobs, blaming the bike when the problem is the rider.
Our age has mastered self-worship. We post “self-love” captions while rejecting discipline, confuse feelings for faith, and call temporary excitement “chemistry.” We are quick to say “I deserve better” and slow to ask “Have I become better?”
Marriages collapse not from catastrophe but from complacency. I’ve heard the phrases too many times: “I lost my feelings for her.” “He plays too much golf.” “We grew apart.” Maybe. But have you asked “why” he prefers the golf course? Maybe peace is easier to find on the fairway than in a house where respect went missing. Yes, he should lead better, but were you willing to be led?
We’re raising a generation fluent in attraction but illiterate in endurance. They know how to look good for a photo but not how to stay good for a promise. Love becomes a brand; commitment, a burden; and when the novelty fades, they trade what was sacred for what’s trending. What a shame.
The tragedy isn’t that we want to be beautiful, beauty is divine by design. The tragedy is that we’ve mistaken the “appearance” of beauty for its essence.
Real beauty has soil under its nails. It forgives when no one says sorry. It stays kind when the crowd gets cruel. It serves when ego screams for attention. That kind of beauty doesn’t wrinkle, it deepens.
When God spoke through the prophet Samuel, He said:
“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Somewhere between the mirror, the church pew and the marketplace, we forgot that verse. We started believing filters could hide fractures. We forgot that wisdom has a face too—one lined by time, courage, and grace.
The wilderness, for all its harshness, has no such illusions. Out there, beauty isn’t cosmetic, it’s character. The desert doesn’t care about your skincare routine. It tests what’s real. It strips what’s fake. Life eventually does that to us all without exception. And in that stripping, something sacred happens… depending how we handle it, the soul breathes again.
Here’s the truth few will say out loud: there can be no genuine, desirable beauty without an untamable wilderness within… and no true wilderness without the reflection of authentic beauty.
If one wants to witness “real” beauty, the wilderness inside must not be suffocated. It must be encouraged, freed, but also harnessed in full self-awareness by its owner. Because self-awareness is where the entire journey begins, the ignition point of purpose. Until the work of self-awareness is done, every other way of living is just distraction—a substitute for an authentic, full life.
The truth shall set you free. But truth is often the hardest secret to uncover, even within one’s own soul. Because truth cuts. It tears through our narratives and our excuses. Yet it’s in that very wound that healing finally begins. I feel like a broken record here and a copycat. I’ve heard that so many times in my life only to discard the concept with cynicism. But, it is so true.
I’ve wandered that wilderness. I’ve met people who looked perfect in pictures but empty in person. And I’ve met others who bore scars, wrinkles, tattoos, and tears; yet radiated peace that could only come from having met God in their brokenness.
There’s a line between image and integrity. One fades in the rain, the other shines in the dark.
So maybe “wilderness of beauty” isn’t a contradiction, maybe it’s a cure. It’s the space where the noise of comparison dies and the voice of truth begins. It’s where you learn that your worth isn’t defined by the reflection on a screen or the approval of others but by the reflection of your soul when the world isn’t watching.
Before you spend another dime chasing perfection, maybe check the engine. When was the last time you changed the oil of your spirit? When did you last forgive someone who didn’t deserve it? When did you last look at yourself without judgment… not to admire, but to be honest?
We keep our bikes cleaner than our hearts. We detail chrome, but we leave bitterness to rust. We love the shine, but not the maintenance.
And yet, God still calls us back—to the workshop, to the wilderness, to the quiet where beauty is rebuilt from the inside out. And if you don’t care for God, the “Truth” eventually always calls us one way or another to slay our past and confront truths in us.
If you want to find beauty that lasts, go where the filters fail. Go into the wild within.
That’s where character is carved, faith is restored, and love learns to ride again. Spend time with people who have walked the path. Choose your friends wisely.
So, let the world chase the mirror.
I’ll chase the mechanic of my soul.
And when the engine hums again—not loud, not perfect, but true—I’ll know I’ve found beauty worth keeping, in all its wilderness.
Because the wilderness doesn’t destroy beauty.
It reveals it.
For those who’ve followed my writings these past few months; from the call for men to rise, to the invitation for women to trust again, this one closes that circle. “Wilderness in Beauty” is a mirror for every soul that’s ever run from its own reflection, myself included. I’ve learned that love without truth is just performance, and truth without grace is just punishment. Real growth begins when we dare to face both. So if this piece stirs something in you… don’t run from it. Sit with it. That’s where healing starts.
#FloridaNightTrain #TruthOverComfort #GraceAndGrit #WildernessWithin
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30
Pictures Public domain: Mini-Mouse by Everspade on DeviantArt, Marge by Matt Groening, Jason Momoa by Harley Davidson, Fake Beauty by @fake_beauty_uae
Night Train: www.facebook.com/floridanighttrain and IG: Florida Night Train
