Bear with me please, my ideas go a little high and right while I’m free writing, but I swear it’ll be coherent in the end.
The question I’d like to explore is “How can beauty add meaning to life? What’s the point of it, why are we even talking about it?”
Beauty obviously Has many different interpretations and definitions, I believe two of them stand out among them all. One is using it as an adjective to describe a physical object; like looking at a painting or seeing a pretty face. The second definition goes a little bit deeper and isn’t as easy to understand. I think it’s a feeling, a pleasant feeling but it is derived from a perception or a way of seeing the universe. This deeper meaning to me is the essence of life. It’s why were here and what gives life meaning, purpose and joy. It’s easy to define things as beautiful, I think it’s more of a process to develop a mindset to see the world through a beautiful lens, as the second definition suggests.
This may be a little cynical and presumptuous, but I believe society views beauty more as the adjective to describe things. Specifically beauty in people. It’s a very popular topic and I think some scientists are obsessed with defining beauty as a science. I found an article in Nautilus magazine about what makes a persons face beautiful and it goes into speaking about the golden ratio, which describes the exact distance different facial structures should be in order to be considered beautiful. I also read a nutrition book suggesting to fit this mask you have to eat your vegetables growing up. hmmmm, either way, the science behind it is imperfect and the conclusion suggest that you should just love your imperfect self as much as you can.
This is where I’d like to introduce Taylor’s little sister Riley. Riley spoke about many beautiful things but most importantly said that you should be happy with who you are. I think this is step one to bridging the gap into spiritual awakening and leading to developing the lens to see beauty through. Enter Will Johnson who says its essential to accept yourself to be able too find beauty and enjoy life.
My experience with beauty has been life changing. It’s also been a process, I don’t think i’d be able to see the world the way I do without the development that I’ve had. I want to tell a story about a disabled man who’s dad encourages him to pretend to be a lifeguard, and also how some of the friends I’ve made have contributed to me accepting myself and having a better life.
Not sure how to fit in ‘La Bella Vita’ but I think now would be a good spot to try.
Enter Nate’s friend Leo who appreciated beauty after some hardship. I’d like to relate this to developing the mind through challenges to be able to see the world in a beautiful light. It is essential to go through hardship to understand yourself and be able to appreciate the little things(the second definition). Life isn’t always rainbows and butterflies. but if you embrace the crappy parts then everything else seems a little bit better, a little bit more beautiful. The contrast is crucial, without darkness you can’t see the light.
Imagine if the meaning of life is feel good all the time and appreciate things as they come. I think if you’re so far removed from this paradigm and can’t see beauty, thats essentially depression. I think it’s sort of like depression when you’re constantly comparing yourself to others and thinking you’re not good enough and want to be someone else. Removal from this thought, this egotistical path, is the gateway towards enlightenment; or at least being able to truely see beauty.
