Beauty

"Beauty comes as much from the mind as from the eye." Grey Livingston
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." Confucius

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
This phrase was first recorded in 3^rd century by the ancient Greeks, and one thing the Ancient Greeks were good at is beauty. Just think of all the beautiful statues, and architecture, some people might even say Greek art and architecture could be the epitome of beauty.

Now why might you ask, am I blabbing on about beauty? Well the inspiration for this “blabbing” comes from a series of books I’ve been reading lately, by P.C.Cast (the Goddess Summoning Series), fictional fantasy, my favourite genre : ) In this series the beauty of a Goddess and of a mortal woman is a major theme. I’ve always loved the idea of Greek Goddesses because they are not all-powerful and utterly perfect, they can make mistakes, they are supposed to be closer to the human person, and more accessible. This is not supposed to be a religious thing, I am focussing on the themes and the values that came with Goddesses. Sure the Greek Gods are all-mighty, Poseidon, Hades, Zeus, but if you get interested in Greek mythology you realize they have all made their mistakes in their time. Just like Gods highlight the masculinity and power of men, so do Goddesses highlight the femininity, spirit, and beauty of women. Now there is something we have forgotten in this modern world. An outspoken, spirited, curvaceous woman like Christina Aguilera is demonized, criticized and so on. What happened to the Marilyn Monroe’s of today? Why all this skinny minny business? What’s wrong with a woman standing up for herself? What’s wrong with a woman speaking her mind? Don’t get me wrong, we’ve come a long way, hello, we have a female prime minister. But guess what? We demonize her too! How silly I thought we lived in a democracy where we choose our prime ministers? Sounds like a lot of Australians regret their “choice”, or maybe threw that choice out the window with a donkey vote? Who knows? All I know is women, to this day do not get enough respect from her fellow man. We are paid less, expected to work more outside of a paid job, ie housework, and sometimes treated like plain shit. Excuse the French. Where are the Goddesses in our world? They are sitting right in front of you, you just don’t appreciate them. Ok obesity is a problem, but so is anorexia, and bullemia. Anyway, how did I get here? I was supposed to be focussing on beauty.

So, beauty.  Beauty can be a biological thing, the prettiest mate the prettiest. It’s a genetic thing. Got a good face, therefore got a good set of genes, or so says biology. I believe that beauty is becoming a forgotten thing in our world. True beauty is what we are speaking of now, the kind of beauty that touches one’s soul, and soothes one’s heart. Not the skeletal kind that walk down runways, red carpets, and the television world. When you think about it the beauty in art is not a mainstream thing anymore. Teenagers don’t flock to museums of Salvador Dali art anymore. Museums are boring. However beauty in music is all the rage. Adelle is only one recent example : )
Anyway my main point is beauty has become something to sell, something to marvel at, but where did the true appreciation go? Why do women all over the world compete endlessly with computer improved images, when truly the most basic beauty sits right in front of their eyes? I ask of you, open your eyes, see the beauty in this world, don’t forget it. Treasure it, honour it. The simplest view of the simplest beauty, sunlight through trees or plants, brightens up my mind, my days, and my heart. Even the pattern on the ground of falling rain, the appearing and disappearing circles, it’s a wonder to watch. What I am saying is, don’t forget to take some time out to stop and smell the roses.

All the best in every way

Britta Vandenberg