Untamed beauty

Beautiful. This image of a woman’s eye was photographed and titled by her 15-year-old granddaughter. JENNA KARLSBERG

Icelandic women are famed for their beauty. Icelandic men, for reasons I just don´t get, are not. But then I like men with beards and character and fall head over heels for musicians. In this country you are outcast if you can´t play requests straight from memory on at least one instrument. Or thats how it seems. I am making a rushed attempt to learn some Scottish folk songs before it is time to reapply for my residence permit.

Beauty pageants are something I always associate with America and prom queens or swimsuit beauties from the 1970s. I think of myself in a swimsuit at my most sleek and still see a different creature from the high heeled, long legged beauties of pageants. There are giraffes and then there are Scottie dogs.. it takes all types. But then, I like being my shape and size and not having to discuss world peace. Sure, we´d all like it but it is most likely virtually impossible and chocolate cake is so much more attainable. Perhaps I am the shallow one.

Anyway, Ísafjörður in the northwest of Iceland has a different take on the value and definition of beauty and I was most impressed when I first heard of the idea of Untamed Beauty, bizarrely on the world service radio show the other morning. I haven´t spoken to anyone in Reykjavík yet who has heard of it , perhaps in the city they prefer the high heels and swimsuits .. and Ísafjörður is admittedly rather remote and windswept. It has its own untamed beauty I´m told and I really want to go there. But I like windswept, in landscapes and people. Maybe foreigners are more romantic about wilderness and the untamed? This is the land of the superjeep after all.

Time will tell. It is not too late to enter, just register before April 11th. You can be male or female, must be over 20 and are not encouraged to loose weight for the event. Don´t make too much effort with your hair either .. the west of Iceland is windy. They state that they want to celebrate wrinkles and timeworn hands as stories of your life and this idea really appeals to me. I hope I will be a wrinkly old grandmother with sparkling eyes and tales of wonder to tell. Perhaps I´ll wear purple. I found my second white hair last week.