Embody Real BeautySHANNON IRIS

There is a thing about Beauty. Intricately woven into the fabric is an unobtainable fiber. Beauty arises just out of reach, at least initially, stirring desire and starting our engines. Things of Beauty ignite our passion and engage our senses. Crispin Sartwell suggests that desire or longing is a quintessential component to the experience of Beauty, defined in Chapter 1 of Six Names of Beauty as the object of longing.

The laughter behind someone’s eyes or the black body of a bird silhouetted against the perfectly blank blue sky arise outside of the personal sphere. To witness Beauty is to long. Since we all long, beauty is a human condition making the experience of Beauty universal, although the objects of our longing shift along personal and cultural lines. (Six Names of Beauty,) And so it stands to reason that we can only long for that which we cannot have. Having, I mean to be defined as owning or possessing. I believe that to reap the full rewards of Beauty, which is to say become a creature of Beauty yourself, you must be strong enough to stand in the fire of un-sated desire without buckling to the urge to capture, box, define, own (even a little sliver), ravage or exploit the object of your Beauty.

Beauty has the power to make a jealous, greedy, ravenous villain out of the average person. Beauty demands moral fiber and strength of character. To be in integrity with the character of Beauty we must collaborate with and honor the object of our desires, otherwise we must abstain from it all together. Once you or I cross over into feasting indulgence, we enter into a different relationship with the object of our desire. We are consuming it. The fires of sensual pleasure have consumed too many Beauties tragically leaving tattered rags of destruction smoldering in her place. You know what I mean. As a woman I can imagine that you yourself have at one time or another been the smoldering pile of rags.

Weaving the “unobtainable fiber” into the fabric of your own beauty profile is critical. To be “unobtainable” you must reserve a part of yourself. Under lock and key, the deepest and most precious, tender, humorous, vivacious, and liquid parts have room to grow, mature and solidify before they ever reach the world. This is the place where your creativity lives. Under no circumstances, ever do you violate this place. I have done it – over and over again and I bring a word of caution, opening these places in yourself to the world bleaches them out, desiccates them and leaves you wide open to abuse. It takes years to heal from just one improper exposure.

Being “unobtainable” is not a ruse and cannot be pulled off playing cat and mouse. Being coy is not the same and has very different consequences. Coy is taunting and immature, unobtainable is confident and solid. Coy says she wants a chase and dangles her cargo, unobtainable knows the precious nature of her belongings, concealing them and avoiding confrontation all together. Coy gets in trouble, Unobtainable wards it off.