BEAUTY!!
Joseph Danladi Elvis Bot
September 08, 2006
Beauty drinks us in and allows us to bear the burden of human consciousness. It heals us by entering our eyes; it orders the chaotic neural impulses of the world into a narrative that is recognized and understood. It joins us with what is other.
As we seek and perceive beauty, what we are really doing is learning to live in harmony with an elemental quality of reality. The circuit that binds air to water to river to mountain to human to bear to bird to river otter flows through us.
To understand beauty on these terms is, at first, terrifying. It is a form of love and once we're susceptible we know we can't live without it. Its cultivation requires us to learn how to see: to shut off the monologues in our heads, to cut through delusions of self-importance, to give ourselves over to the larger global circulation of raw nature and jump in.
In his essay, "Solitude," Thoreau described a "delicious" evening, "when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore." 'Calm so deep'
Beauty drives us toward life. It propels us forward to Wallace Stevens' "palm at the end of the mind," to Matsuo Basho's oku, the "deep north" inside us, and to the intrinsic divinity in all things. When John Muir visited Yellowstone Park in 1898, he wrote: "Here is calm so deep, grasses cease waving," and later, "The sun shines not on us, but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us."
The world is a matrix, and our response to it can be so ardent that we are often compelled to give something back. We re-create beauty in other forms — music, paintings, sculpture, architecture, writing — and these, in turn, put beauty back into circulation. Beauty is part of the cosmic principle of order and chaos.
Beauty speaks to us in soft whispers or bold declarations. She calls on us to gaze in awe at her splendor. We are enticed by beauty. We adore her, idolize her, and even court her. Beauty seduces all of our senses. Beauty's seduction can be as obvious as the striking good looks of a man or woman or as subtle as the charms of a shaggy dog with loving brown eyes. We find beauty in the wonders of nature. Beauty offers us a symphony of colors with every sunrise and sunset and reveals to us her brash power through a storm at sea. Beauty teases us through the shy smile of a child and delights us via the brilliant flashes of fireworks. Beauty sometimes piques all of our senses at once, appealing to our taste buds, as well as our eyes and nose, when she appears in the form of a deliciously baked cake. Beauty calms us with floral scents and excites our aural lust through the passionate sounds made by an orchestra.
Beauty can be cruel, and our pursuit of her can be in vain. We may go to the opera in anticipation of finding beauty there, and she may bore and disappoint us. Instead, beauty lavishes her attention on another suitor who may be more appreciative of her charms. Or, we may try to capture beauty's essence in a photograph, painting, or sculpture, and still she is nowhere to be found. Beauty will forever inspire works of art, and she will always pose for her portrait, selecting the artist who is most worthy of her catching her likeness.
Depending on our personal tastes, beauty can be found in every color, flavor, scent, and texture. She lives among the poor, as well as the rich, and appears in the faces of the young and the old. She is at home in the city, as well as the country, decorating skylines as well as landscapes. She is the ultimate shape shifter. Beauty is a weather beaten barn beloved by one person and an awesome testament of naval craftsmanship revered by another. Beauty knows no bounds, and we can find her everywhere. All we have to do is look for beauty, and she is there.
As we seek and perceive beauty, what we are really doing is learning to live in harmony with an elemental quality of reality. The circuit that binds air to water to river to mountain to human to bear to bird to river otter flows through us.
To understand beauty on these terms is, at first, terrifying. It is a form of love and once we're susceptible we know we can't live without it. Its cultivation requires us to learn how to see: to shut off the monologues in our heads, to cut through delusions of self-importance, to give ourselves over to the larger global circulation of raw nature and jump in.
In his essay, "Solitude," Thoreau described a "delicious" evening, "when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore." 'Calm so deep'
Beauty drives us toward life. It propels us forward to Wallace Stevens' "palm at the end of the mind," to Matsuo Basho's oku, the "deep north" inside us, and to the intrinsic divinity in all things. When John Muir visited Yellowstone Park in 1898, he wrote: "Here is calm so deep, grasses cease waving," and later, "The sun shines not on us, but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us."
The world is a matrix, and our response to it can be so ardent that we are often compelled to give something back. We re-create beauty in other forms — music, paintings, sculpture, architecture, writing — and these, in turn, put beauty back into circulation. Beauty is part of the cosmic principle of order and chaos.
Beauty speaks to us in soft whispers or bold declarations. She calls on us to gaze in awe at her splendor. We are enticed by beauty. We adore her, idolize her, and even court her. Beauty seduces all of our senses. Beauty's seduction can be as obvious as the striking good looks of a man or woman or as subtle as the charms of a shaggy dog with loving brown eyes. We find beauty in the wonders of nature. Beauty offers us a symphony of colors with every sunrise and sunset and reveals to us her brash power through a storm at sea. Beauty teases us through the shy smile of a child and delights us via the brilliant flashes of fireworks. Beauty sometimes piques all of our senses at once, appealing to our taste buds, as well as our eyes and nose, when she appears in the form of a deliciously baked cake. Beauty calms us with floral scents and excites our aural lust through the passionate sounds made by an orchestra.
Beauty can be cruel, and our pursuit of her can be in vain. We may go to the opera in anticipation of finding beauty there, and she may bore and disappoint us. Instead, beauty lavishes her attention on another suitor who may be more appreciative of her charms. Or, we may try to capture beauty's essence in a photograph, painting, or sculpture, and still she is nowhere to be found. Beauty will forever inspire works of art, and she will always pose for her portrait, selecting the artist who is most worthy of her catching her likeness.
Depending on our personal tastes, beauty can be found in every color, flavor, scent, and texture. She lives among the poor, as well as the rich, and appears in the faces of the young and the old. She is at home in the city, as well as the country, decorating skylines as well as landscapes. She is the ultimate shape shifter. Beauty is a weather beaten barn beloved by one person and an awesome testament of naval craftsmanship revered by another. Beauty knows no bounds, and we can find her everywhere. All we have to do is look for beauty, and she is there.
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