The Beauty of People and the World

[Corvus]

What is beauty? What makes something beautiful? and what are some beautiful things?

beau·ty   [byoo-tee]
noun, plural -ties.
1.the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).
2.a beautiful person, especially a woman.
3.a beautiful thing, as a work of art or a building.
4.Often, beauties. something that is beautiful in nature or in some natural or artificial environment.
5.an individually pleasing or beautiful quality; grace; charm
(from dictionary.com)

I don't know why somethings are beautiful and others are not. I do know that my ideas of beauty are unconventional. Everything in the world is beautiful. People are beautiful, flowers, trees, the sky, tilled soil, the neighbor's cat and the beetles in the garden are all wonderful. Happiness, torment, disease, prayer, love, anger, blasphemy and rapture are all also beautiful. I don't expect everyone to understand why I find all these things beautiful but I'm interested in knowing what others do think is appealing to the eye and soul.

[B. de Corbin]

I thing is beautiful when your soul touches it and feels pleasure.



Which means, less poetically, that each person is drawn, as if by hunger, to particular varieties of sensory experiences. In the population, there some general averages in types of sensory experiences to which people are drawn. That's why many people find certain types of things (like flowers) so attractive.

But each person is different in the particular mix and degree of of experiences to which he/she is drawn - which is why no two people will ever agree exactly on what "is" beautiful.

Then, when one perceives that to which one is drawn, one feels pleasure. We call the thing that creates that experience "beauty."



I find old, well worn machinery made of metal and wood, where both metal and wood have aged and developed a nice patina together. That's why I collect old rifles.

I also like tools which show age by being well worn from use, but which have been well cared for.

And bunnies and kitties, of course.

[Amelia-Mary]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

Music is especially beautiful to me. It's beautiful because it often makes me cry and I feel perfect when I'm playing it, writing it or listening to it, It lifts me out of my actual body and into some place awesome

[Stina]

Beauty is what makes us feel good and appreciative of life and the world. A beautiful person is someone who tries to spread this good feeling and happiness, drawn from his/her own experience of beauty, to the surrounding world and fellow-beings.

Can anyone suggest blogs/sites that celebrate beauty and joy of life in a pagan spirit? I know Nelland < Link Removed by staff > is one, but I´d like to find others as well.

Beauty is what makes the world go around!

[Axis564]

Love is the most beautiful thing in the world. Fulfilling one moment, tragic the next...so spontaneous. =D

[Medusa]

Hugh Jackman is f'ing beautiful.

[Dez]

From a rather clinical perspective, beauty in human beings is most often what happens when we see a collection of traits that imply youth and health. The most attractive features are often the most standardized and even.

The funny thing to me, is that often the people who are the most truly attractive don't fit that standard. I have a massive girl-crush on Katharine Hepburn, for example, and she was not the stereotypical leading lady of her day.

Some things, like flowers, I think owe a great deal of their beauty to their fragility. Here is something that will be gone entirely, in a matter of days or hours.

[habbalah]

I thing is beautiful when your soul touches it and feels pleasure.

[snip]

Then, when one perceives that to which one is drawn, one feels pleasure. We call the thing that creates that experience "beauty."

That's about what I was going to say. Beauty goes beyond mere physical attraction; true beauty is something that moves you, or someone that draws you. It's not always nice or even always pleasant, but you just know it when you experience it. Superficial beauty fades; true beauty is forever.

[Corvus]

Superficial beauty fades; true beauty is forever.

Don't you think there is something beautiful about something which won't last forever?

[habbalah]

Don't you think there is something beautiful about something which won't last forever?

Even if say, a beautiful flower dies or a beautiful painting is destroyed, that doesn't make them not beautiful when they're gone. There's tragedy in them being gone, but they're not no longer beautiful because of it, if that makes sense.