Embody Real BeautySHANNON IRIS

In the last post, Beauty with a capital B, we determined that Beauty is a human need.  We need Beauty because it informs us about what makes life worth living.  In some mysterious way, Beauty is the evidence of our own personal connection to that which is life giving and life affirming.  Add that to the fact that Beauty is nebulous, spontaneous and unpredictable and we have the makings of a situation.  Critically important… Unpredictable…?  Scary.

Let me try and paint a clear, concise picture of the situation.  When Beauty arises, it surprises and delights us – it puts us in touch with a feeling of exaltation – lifting our spirits in gratitude of life itself.  (This is the good news.)  Because it feels soooo pleasurable, the knee jerk reaction is to try and capture it -  BOX IT IN!   It might not come back – CLING TO IT!

Once we capture it, what we possess is a static replica of the once dynamic, living breathing experience of Beauty.  What has been created in the likeness of Beauty is a static Ideal of Perfection – a relic (which can still elicit feelings of exaltation in the mind and spirit).

So what do we do?  We exalt the relic.  We do this because we recognize the inherent value in beautiful things and we want to preserve them.  Tsk Tsk…. What happens when you try and preserve things?