This is a good week to re-discover Beauty! Despite the turmoil of the world and whatever weather conditions you maybe facing, Beauty remains an ever present aspect of Life. As individuals, we have our differing and unique ways of nurturing ourselves. One of them is our awareness of Beauty in its varying forms. Neuroscience and psychology tell us that perception of beauty involves the interconnection of our senses (including color perception) and our emotions, thought, and culture. We respond in different degrees to scent, texture, shape, hue and intensity, tenor and pitch. Some people find beauty in symmetry; some in asymmetry. Sometimes Beauty arises from complexity, sometimes from simplicity, partially based on our cognitive preference! I like the definition giving in the Free Dictionary: The quality present in a person or thing that gives intense aesthetic pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind or the senses. I would include "the happenings" as well. Happenings are events that bring pleasure/satisfaction to the mind or senses. and (I also add) our hearts. Ultimately, our perception of Beauty belongs to the Spiritual Realm. What is Beautiful to your heart?
A friend of mine recently wrote me that she had been seized with a sudden and intense need to de-clutter her house, to set the house and herself free of the unwanted past, the excess, and the unnecessary. This sudden onset of need propelled her into a whirlwind of release, and then, after car loads of dispersion, the pressure receded again. Layers of 'too much' were gone, and rediscovered Beauty reigned again. The process of release doesn't have to be total to be healing. The idea here is release and rediscovery uncover the Beautiful.
That rediscovery, or renewed awareness, can surface in different ways. When my grandchildren ask me, "What is your favorite color?", I usually answer yellow. They are now old enough to protest that I never wear anything yellow. True! I own very little of anything that is yellow. "Ah", I explain, "yellow is the color of the sun, and that yellow, shines as the dawn, and gives us daylight, so that we can experience the Beauty all around us." "That yellow gives the right tone of beauty to oranges, peaches, apricots and tangerines in the yard, and summer dresses, and swimsuits and beach shirts, whatever their color."
We also meet Beauty as ongoing discovery through the world of ideas and in our sense of belonging to this Life, Like Grace, Beauty is a gift. Yes, the world struggles, all forms of life have their time of struggle. Creativity itself is often struggle, as new Beauty arises, in its' infinite forms and manifestations. Yet, Beauty is a balm; it soothes and uplifts. Take a Beauty break, away from the news, squabbles and scandals. Right where you are, is something Beautiful. It may even reveal to you, the Truth. (Susan Nettleton)
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty”— that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. John Keats
for more poetry: https://www.sharonsinger.ca/poem-of-the-week/august-federico-garcia-lorca
https://www.kayebarleymeanderingsandmuses.com/2015/04/welcome-morning-by-anne-sexton.html
https://readalittlepoetry.com/2023/10/09/a-blessing-by-james-wright/