beauty

Another in the series - collect the whole set!

Beauty, eh?

Beauty feels like an easy one. Whereas richness dealt with what went into something, I think beauty is the outcome. I see beauty everywhere, both in nature and in made things, in people and in objects.

Often when I leave work, I can look up at blue sky, fluffy clouds and tall trees. Beautiful.

A fine automobile with graceful lines that evoke speed even when standing still. Beautiful.

The laughter of my children. Beautiful.

My wife. Beautiful.
A choral or symphony harmonizing. A single voice singing purely. A group jamming and obviously having fun - beautiful.

The clean lines of a piece of furniture not covered with stuff, but just a few tasteful, functional or collaborating pieces. Beautiful.

What's not beautiful - a sneer, and bad driver, the back end of a Ford Mustang, not beautiful.

Clutter, an over-abundance of collected items, things that clash, dissonance - not beautiful.

Also not beautiful - mass-produced consumer objects, cheap trinkets made with crummy materials, gray concrete walls where there should be a mural, a free or even a storefront. A 9-digit error message on an HP photo printer. Bad service by a monopoly that doesn't need to care. A clerk who hates their job and makes sure you know.

Garbage created by opportunistics simply to take your money from you - ugly. Things created by adults to take money from children who don't any better - even worse.

And some things oddly enough, walk a very fine line. Like graffiti - it can be all about execution - an elaborate piece with swooping curves can be beautiful even painted where it doesn't belong (and hopefully quickly painted over) compared to a simple tag or something full of hard pointy spikes of frenetic energy, darkness and hate.

I was surprised when our realtor, after about the fourth house we visit started dismissing homes as soon as we walked in - he observed our reactions to homes and realized we liked big and open, light and airy. And so that's what we ended up with - high ceilings and a big central floor. There's a seat in the dining room where I can sit at the table and look out through there sets of windows and see mostly tree. A little bit of a neighbor's house over a fence, but mostly just trees. Add a little wind, maybe some rain. Beautiful.

Ok, this one was more difficult to write about than I thought. This post - not so beautiful. :)