Beauty. Isn’t that what you’re after? I don’t mean personal beauty although that might be on your mind, and certainly, if you are in any way just a little vain, such beauty might be an obsession. That personal physical beauty is for the most part a matter of fashion. In an age of famine, a good layer of fat would be relatively beautiful. In an age of plenty, skinny is in, at least according to most of the fashion magazines, Hollywood producers, and ballet choreographers. You can, as far as I’m concerned, search for any fashionable beauty you want for yourself as long as the search isn’t harmful. Starving yourself in pursuit of “beauty,” for example, is probably not good for you, though lower weight seems to prolong life when nutrition is balanced. Beauty.
So, what kind of beauty, other than personal beauty, are you after? You have multiple answers. You seek beauty in natural surroundings. You seek beauty in artificial environments. You might seek it in the images to which it was presented to you when you were very young, in things like a patch of forest or a stretch of beach, where you vacationed. You might seek it in furnishings reminiscent of the colors and shapes of your first or most memorable dwelling. The face of a baby or loved one. A thoroughbred. A sunset. A mountain or canyon. Start making a list. Beauty.
Maybe you seek it in relationships, enduring ones that make you feel both happy and secure. Could it also be found in that old poetic standby, Truth? You know, as in “truth is beauty and vice versa”—okay, that isn’t an exact quotation. Or, does beauty lie in something old, like ancient ruins that give you a sense of history, of human accomplishment, and of artistic vision? Oh! Yes. Don’t forget great art and architecture. “You have a beautiful house, and the landscaping…Well, I just can’t say enough about it.”
And then when you’re sure you find beauty, you exclaim: “How beautiful!” But your companion doesn’t see it because, as some say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and your companion just doesn’t behold what you behold. Beauty.
Why do you continue searching for beauty when only you can see it? Surely, there’s a common ground, an absolute Beauty. Think of the consequences if there isn’t. No Absolute Beauty means we live relative lives. You probably think that’s good in at least one sense: Perceiving Beauty makes you an individual. But then, what about another sense? Variable Beauty means that nothing is stable, nothing enduring, and nothing common. Variable Beauty means that there is no Place in the universe where Beauty without question resides. What your ancestors considered beautiful might have been different. What your offspring consider or will consider might also be different. Beauty. Tough to pin down. Tough to agree on. Tough to define.
Yet, there you are in pursuit of Beauty. If you find it, will you be able to share it with another?
So, what kind of beauty, other than personal beauty, are you after? You have multiple answers. You seek beauty in natural surroundings. You seek beauty in artificial environments. You might seek it in the images to which it was presented to you when you were very young, in things like a patch of forest or a stretch of beach, where you vacationed. You might seek it in furnishings reminiscent of the colors and shapes of your first or most memorable dwelling. The face of a baby or loved one. A thoroughbred. A sunset. A mountain or canyon. Start making a list. Beauty.
Maybe you seek it in relationships, enduring ones that make you feel both happy and secure. Could it also be found in that old poetic standby, Truth? You know, as in “truth is beauty and vice versa”—okay, that isn’t an exact quotation. Or, does beauty lie in something old, like ancient ruins that give you a sense of history, of human accomplishment, and of artistic vision? Oh! Yes. Don’t forget great art and architecture. “You have a beautiful house, and the landscaping…Well, I just can’t say enough about it.”
And then when you’re sure you find beauty, you exclaim: “How beautiful!” But your companion doesn’t see it because, as some say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and your companion just doesn’t behold what you behold. Beauty.
Why do you continue searching for beauty when only you can see it? Surely, there’s a common ground, an absolute Beauty. Think of the consequences if there isn’t. No Absolute Beauty means we live relative lives. You probably think that’s good in at least one sense: Perceiving Beauty makes you an individual. But then, what about another sense? Variable Beauty means that nothing is stable, nothing enduring, and nothing common. Variable Beauty means that there is no Place in the universe where Beauty without question resides. What your ancestors considered beautiful might have been different. What your offspring consider or will consider might also be different. Beauty. Tough to pin down. Tough to agree on. Tough to define.
Yet, there you are in pursuit of Beauty. If you find it, will you be able to share it with another?
RSS Feed