“The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone”. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This week I have used the word “beautiful” as a description for people, nature, furniture, emotion and a storefront parking space.
It might be possible to overuse the word. But, finding and appreciating beautiful things is a practice worthy of repetition.
Theocritus said, “Beauty is a delightful prejudice”. That speaks to me in a way that the tired “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” does not. However, they are essentially the same statement. Much of what we see and find beautiful is not appreciated by others. Our definition of beauty is shaped by a lifetime of experiences and learned preferences. It’s subjective and dependent on the observer’s interpretations and biases.
But agreeing with either adage gives the viewer enormous power. Much can be disregarded when based on such arbitrary judgement.
There is a philosophical question that asks “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” There are opinions and facts and science to argue if it does or if it doesn’t.
I contend that some things are simply beautiful, regardless of our ability to see, acknowledge or appreciate.
There are parts of the world that I have never been and will probably never see. The fact that I can’t attest to the grandeur of those places doesn’t make them less grand or appealing. Being asleep when the sun rises and sets does not negate the miracle of another day. A desire to have, or not have children does not make the sound of a child’s laughter or the softness of a baby’s skin less glorious. The magnificence of human struggle and accomplishment is not diminished by one’s lack of emotional intelligence to understand or appreciate it. The worth of a soul is not determined by another’s ability to recognize it.
This is not to say that everything in life is, or can be made, beautiful. There is evil and cruelty that pretty words, desperate longing or brilliant colors cannot redeem.
But there is so much more that is beautiful. Unmistakably beautiful. The breathtaking kind of beauty that hits us all at once and immediately. Or, that which develops gradually like an old polaroid picture coming into focus before our eyes. If we are open to it, it’s everywhere.
Sadly, there is beauty around us every day that we fail to see. We miss the joy that can be found in the minutiae of the mundane. There is nobility and value in people we dismiss as unworthy of our attention or admiration. Love is rejected or dismissed with little awareness of the precious offering that it is. We run from tears and trauma, neglecting to participate in the miraculous healing that turns gaping wounds into profound battle scars. There is pain that blinds us to the exquisiteness of sacrifice, hard work and grief.
Operating from a sense of lack does not mean there is no abundance. Our denial of it cannot erase it’s existence. It’s all there waiting to be seen and feasted upon.
Having eyes that see is an act of intention and bravery. It is a willingness to check your “beholder” and challenge it’s prejudice and pain. It’s the generous acknowledgement of experience beyond your own. It is being teachable and humble and wide open. It’s knowing that ease doesn’t equal appeal. It’s determining that beauty is a force independent of your opinion and interpretation – a force capable of seeping into empty spaces and filling them to bursting. And besides storefront parking, there is nothing more beautiful than that.
Something to Shay 