long ago, i once asked myself:
”why is this girl i’m getting to know getting prettier?”
the answer, as it turned out… was not that simple
beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart
~ Khalil Gibran
when i realized that a person’s physicality was shifting right in front of me, in real time, i figured that beauty might not only be something that can be seen — but a felt and sensed experience
[[full disclaimer:
if the first thing that comes to mind when i mention the word “beauty” is the apparent popular good looks that have been commodified to a value next to status and money, or as a speculative financial tool aka “fine art”; that’s not quite what i mean or attempt to explore here - that’s all vanity — and i’d encourage everyone to question how/if these concepts fit together /]]
because these thoughts are about the experience of beauty that strikes us to our core or the way art shakes us personally and even pushes the culture collectively
“beauty standards” 🤨
as someone who considers himself immensely curious and a seeker of beauty, i tried to understand what is behind the experience of the witnessing of something or someone beautiful. i wanted to grasp the nature of beauty because whether it was my own eyes or my mind that was most likely playing tricks on me, it didn’t matter
i became weary of popular apparent beauty; i threw out all these ingrained cultural beliefs and so-called standards of beauty that only narrowed its true nature
because i do consider beauty to be a value; but note quite the value that people get when they spend a great deal of time and money on “beauty products” and plastic surgery to conform to societal expectations of beauty or false projections of the self that they’re obsessed with1
as i kept questioning the nature of beauty (and still am), i began to chew on these catchy philosophical bumper stickers such as: “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” - but that didn’t get me very far - i real-eyes’d i needed other senses to rely upon; because in order to uncover the (hidden) beauty of our experiences, our lives and relations, we won’t do it through the eyes but through the heart
the way is not in the sky. the way is in the heart
~ Buddha
beauty is attractive magnetic
beauty as a quality of experience can be a signal of where discernment wants to start.
where atonement is already facilitated by the values we have, without even knowing that we have them
~ Forrest Landry
in this analogy of beauty being magnetic - a north, our heart is the compass needle; and even though beauty might be another mystery of the human experience, it can still be a guiding light on how to live our lives and direct our actions
i will argue, like other philosophers, that beauty is at the core of discernment and the nature of choice itself; as critically important as logic, creativity and imagination to answer first principles questions such as:
what do we value?
what do we care about?
what do we love?
beauty helps us transcend the limitations of reason because while logic and analysis are powerful tools for understanding the world, they have their limits
as beauty evokes a sense of wonder and awe that goes beyond what can be explained or understood rationally, it allows us to connect with aspects that are greater than ourselves, whether its the natural world, a work of art, or a beautiful relationship. if something is considered beautiful - then there’s hardly anything else to argue - nothing else to add, to label or to intellectualize
if your choices are beautiful, so too will you be
~ Epictetus
our reality is determined by our choices; we are determined by our choices. beauty is not something we find just sitting there, it’s something we make; in the same way: love, happiness and purpose are not things we find, they are choices we make. so if the choices we make do not result in beauty - then for sure we can deem them as flat-out wrong
do your living
do the most positive thing that you can do
do that which which really matters
that which creates beauty
and deepens relations
in service of all lives~ Tyson Yunkaporta
to let ourselves be guided by this magnetic beauty means to tune ourselves to the dynamics of the breath of life / ~newen by becoming aware of subtle shifts of where and how energy moves (increases/decreases) with what we do and the choices we make
some people might call this intuition, and perhaps it is, but it’s important to note that these movements of energies go beyond thought and intention, meaning that in the dynamics of energy, there’s no movement without an initial offering
action allows beauty to reveal itself
we refine ourselves to the sensing of the movements of energies by gaining clarity of heart; teachings, poetry that touches you, songs, words, experiences and acts of kindness that “feel whole”, these are means to gain clarity of heart, but that’s a topic for another day
so as we let our choice-making be led by beauty - we increase the chances that the quality of the outcome brings more beauty and energy; making a positive impact on the world around us and enhancing our own lives by creating a reality that feels beautiful
the work of the eyes is done.
go now and do the heart-work on the images imprisoned within you
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
the beautified & the beautifier
in nature, that which stops transforming hardens and perishes.
climate is regenerative, the process is endless, just like us, our bodies and our awakening
in the same way, to change, to transform or heal oneself is to cultivate inner beauty
let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
just keep going. no feeling is final
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
people who possess have cultivated inner beauty are often kind, compassionate, and have a positive outlook on life - they emit this vibe that makes them appealing - they seem to make other people and the world a better place simply by being themselves
to cultivate inner beauty is to adorn ourselves with beautiful qualities such as elegance, grace, happiness and generosity; qualities which will inevitably show outwardly. because beauty doesn’t exist in objects, it arises from the relationships we make and it lies in the meaningfulness of these connections
soak yourself in the flood of fluid beauty
energy that is both coming and going
the beauty of words and gestures
the beauty of chaos and transformation
the beauty in the contemplation of existence
the beauty of the deep bright blue mistery
as you experience it’s pulsing energy
it will draw a smile in your heart
the transformation of ourselves and our worldviews - our awakening- mirrors the blossoming of beauty that also arises from inside out and outside in - there’s no dichotomy
and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom
~ Anaïs Nin
the most beautiful experiences i’ve ever had have been emotional encounters with the mysterious, the numinous, moments where i’ve felt the familial presence of our blue strands - i’ve been deeply beautified by these experiences - and this is another way that i see how beauty comes to be
a high quality event
called for by the moment
jewelled webs of beingness
bestowed by unseen forces
to which we are in reverence to
the gift of beauty and energy
is rooted in communion
always present at hand
now for you to claim it
and weave the patterns
because what are you if not the most beautiful?
every bond that you form
with people, beings and places
these are the only real things
that bind you to life
your relations ~ the space inbetween
is all there is
it’s for you,
it’s because of you,
and it’s a reflection of you
your task is to adorn
and beautify these spaces
by allowing the beauty you love
to be what you do
this is why beauty
is inherently blue
(sorry- not sorry for my judgemental ramblings *proceeds to make a duckface*)