Ola Cyberspace.
Last night as I sat out on my balcony in the post-rain sun, I thought to myself 'This is beautiful.' It may be because I've started reading Atlas Shrugged (I'm only 120 pages or so in) and it's really beginning to bring back some of what I gleaned from reading The Fountainhead, the only other Ayn Rand book I've read thus far.
If you're unfamiliar with Ayn Rand (and I'm no expert), she basically believes in human ingenuity. She believes that the act of creation is the pinnacle of our potential as humans. She appreciates competence and is quite contemptuous of laziness and mediocrity. I was shocked to find myself sitting inside of her shoes last night.
The view from my balcony isn't the greatest. There's a smaller apartment building that blocks most of what I would be able to see, but there is a small emptiness through which I can see the field of my daughter's school. I was watching the ultimate frisbee game that was going on when I began to marvel at the fact that we are even able to move (this happens to me at least once a week). I mean, it's absolutely incredible. The amount of organization required for our bodies to able to function is unfathomable...sure we kind of have an idea, but when you start to look into things like Reflexology, the interconnectedness of the different parts of our bodies is boggling.
I then moved on to the grass those frisbee-ers (I know...despicable) were running on...the trees surrounding the fields. The small droplets left over from the earlier rainfall glistening among the leaves were winking at me, the leaves were gently rustling in the breeze, the breeze was caressing my face...and I felt connected somehow. We may have pushed away our connection to nature, but it still exists. And it's beautiful.
Then the Ayn Rand that's floating around in my system began to kick in and I started to observe the unnatural. I looked at my car and thought to myself 'the internal combustion engine is genius.' The fact that as a species we have developed to such a point to be able to create alloys...to mould these alloys into objects...to assemble these objects in such a way that we literally create an explosion and harness the energy from it...that is beauty. That is ingenuity. Granted, it could be done much more efficiently, (like using magnets to suspend the pistons inside of the cylinder, which eliminates friction so we could actually harness all of the energy for example) cars are far from the best for the environment, but they are still an incredible invention. As are houses...apartment buildings...bicycles...baseball bats...it's all beautiful.
So what takes away from the beauty? Not only are we completely inundated with the fingerprints of humanity all over the planet, but imitation. The imitation actually perpetuates the inundation. Of course we don't think that house is beautiful - there's ten more of them that look exactly the same on the same block. It kills the beauty - the beauty is in the creation of something new...not in the erecting of a paint-by-number structure.
That's when I realized - there is also beauty in destruction. Explosions look awesome. Fire is mesmerizing. But aside from the medium of destruction...there is a certain poetic notion that I've begun to associate with death, be it the death of a structure, the death of a car's engine, the death of a pet - it's like an eraser removing the penciled-in lines of creation. The deconstruction that eventually leads to the decomposition that eventually turns all things back to the same basic elements.
There's beauty everywhere. Enjoy it...I am.
Peace and Love
The Critical Stranger
As always thoughts, comments and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated.
Beautiful man. Just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWe live on a world of incredible beauty. I can't help but notice it more and more every day.
I think as a society we have also lost our awareness of beauty through the overly cultivated thinking mind. Its when you switch off the never ending chatter in your head that you truly start to notice the beauty that is all around you.
I'm suddenly reminded of a time that I was on the beach, just moments before sunrise. I was waiting for the perfect moment to snap a picture, not thinking, just observing. I noticed the fog rolling over the rocks, the waves crashing against the shore, and of course, the sky changing from a deep shade of grey to the most brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow in just minutes. I was amazed by not only how quickly the sun travels across the sky (you never notice because you have nothing to reference it against) but also how it effects the fog. It takes just a few minutes for the intensity of the suns rays to burn up the fog and leave you with a beautifully clear, crisp landscape.
Regardless, that may have been the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed in nature. I only wish I had the mindset then, that I do now. I may have appreciated it much more.
But I have to say, your absolutely right that beauty resides outside of nature. Man and woman have accomplished and created some truly beautiful things as well. Not only through our physical creations but also through our actions. That acts of feeding the hungry, standing up for the weak (in the face of bullying), striving towards world peace, etc. are all beautiful non-physical things.
Then of course, there is the beauty of people. Everyone is beautiful in some way. Their ability to make you laugh, to spread love, to speak the truth, their intelligence, their physical appearance, you name it. Everyone shines with true beauty.
This also reminds me of a quote I read the other day. While I can't remember the exact words, it goes something like this:
"You are the universe. The more of the universe you absorb, the more you learn about yourself."
Beauty is everywhere. In everything you see to everyone you meet. Its easy to see the beauty of the universe.. when you can see through an unclouded mind :)
Peace.