Beauty

I want to think about beauty. I believe that there is something inside of humans that differs from other creatures and the appreciation of beauty is a sign or characteristic or (you fill in that blank) of that difference.

Striving for beauty is why, if I am honest, I want to be an architect. To be able to create something beautiful that is appreciated, something that causes us to stop and appreciate our environment, is an idea that I want to permeate my working life.

This idea is easy to understand and practice in the creative fields (which some would argue architecture is not, necessarily, a part of), but seems much harder to put to practice as a doctor, electrician, banker, plumber, salesman, mom, teacher, et cetera. I would argue the opposite is true.

Beauty can easily be reflected in everything that we do if we remain aware of what we are doing. Stop and meditate on how you hold your pen. Understand the precision that goes into the functioning of your body. Try, for a second, to grasp the logic that flows from your brain and the emotion that moves forth from your heart.

If we are able to meditate on the complexity of our world, we are able to understand beauty.

My challenge: make/do something beautiful for the sake of beauty. Do it out of enjoyment and not for anyone or for any reason besides the fact that it is beautiful. Make a cake, make a cocktail, fold a shirt, read a book, write a poem, stand up, sit down, take a breathe, or anything else. But, as you do that thing be very aware of all the details that go into doing it. Think about your skin flexing and muscles twitching. Think about everything!

I am posting a picture that I find very beautiful both as a piece of art, but also as a subject matter. Enjoy beauty!