How time flies! It was more than two weeks ago when I first saw an interesting theme by PhotoHunt. PhotoHunt will give a theme each Saturday and anyone who wants to join the fun can post a photo on their sites that represents the theme. The theme that was given 3 weeks ago was “beautiful.” For the first time I was on time for the photo hunt game and it was an easy theme; and so I thought. You see, the challenge was everything is beautiful and it was truly a big challenge to choose just one.
I decided to consult the online dictionary to see what its advice was. Dictionary.com never disappointed me; it gave me a satisfactory answer. According to it, “Beautiful is having beauty; having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind.” The explanation was cleared but it certainly made my selection even more challenging.
Did I post any photo in the end? You guessed it right; I did not. Not because I couldn’t decide on which to post (due to too many to choose from), but because the one which I truly wanted to post to reflect the theme was an “invisible” photo; one that could not be seen or heard or thought. And yet it is one that allows us to see more, to hear more and to think more.
While looking through the photos, something hit me hard on the head and knocked me out totally; not physically but mentally. It got me into my reflection mode. If someone or something or even an experience is beautiful to me, is the same someone or something or experience beautiful to you or to him or to her? Whose standard am I taking here and whose standard should be the standard that everyone can agree on? There will never be an end to this discussion if ever we started it.
As the saying goes, “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,“ one knows that beauty is something very subjective; someone or something or an experience that is beautiful to one certainly does not immediately apply to another. In so speaking, I do not find it meaningful to get into any argument with someone on this matter. However, “Could there be a common ground where everyone may at least see eyes to eyes?”
I truly believe there is. Earlier on, I said that the one photo which I truly wanted to post to reflect the theme of PhotoHunt is “invisible” not something one can see or hear. While waiting for someone to arrive for appointment on a few occasions, I was enchanted by the surroundings. I felt the wind blowing in my face and the trees were swaying and dancing and their leaves were singing; it was such a beautiful and wonderful feeling.
Through the natural disasters in Burma and China, we saw many heroic acts and sacrifices; such selfless and remarkable acts and sacrifices could only come from people with big and beautiful hearts. If you followed the Olympics that ended last month in Beijing, China, you would agree with me the many splendid and beautiful performances by the varies athletics; how determine they were even at time when they met with big stumbling blocks and might not even win a medal. Their performances nonetheless were beautiful and to a large extent touched my heart. Do you find these people beautiful? There was a factor of inspiration and also an undisputable beauty in their human hearts and souls.
Could this be the common ground where everyone may at least see eyes to eyes? Helen Keller couldn’t have said it better when she said, “The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.“ Beauty then, is in the heart and soul of a person. What about the beauty of a thing or an experience? That too is in the heart and soul of a person. Through the eyes of someone with a big heart and soul, there is definitely beauty in everything he/she sees. Are we seeing eyes to eyes with each other?
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indeed beauty is in your heart and soul. it’s what is seen by the heart and soul of the beholder. thx for this nice post.
bytesofcookies last blog post..We Need Another Computer?
i share your thoughts about beauty, the word is too deep to describe, and be represented by images. it can be a beautiful deed, thought or what we feel inside of our hearts.
betchais last blog post..Lake Poway Loop Trail
@ bytesofcookie, indeed, it is in the beholder. If one has a beautiful heart and soul, one will find beauty in everything he/she sees.
@ betchai, I agree with you. Beauty, like love is something that cannot be described by words or represented by images. It is a state of the mind links directly to one’s heart and soul.
I guess we could go back and forth with a thank you for the comment…I did want to say thank you. You are so right about letting children fall. I remind myself of this each turn.
That is funny that you put off the photo of the week. I have been trying to improve my photography and each week I have tried to pick two. Well, this past Friday, I was stumped. I was dong a “sky” shot. I was not happy with any of them. I did not even make the post. It wasn’t that the picture did not turn out. The picture did not capture the “vast scene” that I wanted. The picture felt small. Strange feeling….I just decided that looking up with pictures was not for me. I noticed that you had a shot of the sky. It was a beautiful picture. I am sure you felt the same. The picture did not describe exactly what you felt because it was so “big” up there. Maybe I need to revisit the “sky” and view it differently. I don’t know.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Tammy Warrens last blog post..Adventure through time
@ Tammy, you have pointed out a most interesting view; indeed the picture did not capture what I ‘saw’ and ‘felt’ at that moment when I took the picture. It just feels different – the sky is too big to be captured.
Beauty, indeed, is in the heart. What a wonderfully written post.
Channah @ Get a Grip, Mom!s last blog post..True friends are there for the grunt work.
Hm.. this is indeed a very thought provoking concept.
It just struck me that for many people out there, they have spend their entire lives pursuing Beauty (or perfection in some cases) but it’s sad that they did not realise this is a futile attempt. Beauty is very much like peace. The more you want it, the more it runs from you.
Hope I’m making some sense here 😛
Sherxrs last blog post..Awards time!!!
@ Sher, interesting thought! I agree with you that beauty is very much like peace. Beauty is in the heart and soul of a person; a quality that is within a person. Previously I have written a post on ‘Where is the Quietest Place on Earth?’ In that post, I mentioned that there is a quietest place on Earth for everyone and that place does not change with the surroundings. That place can be found within one; if one is at peace with oneself, even when there is a storm, one will feel peaceful 🙂
“Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
–from “The Little Prince”
Randalls last blog post..Kato GG-1
@ Randall, thank you for sharing that quotation from the Little Prince. I think it’s beautiful and I agree with it totally. 🙂
Thank you for the post which was like a sip of fresh air to me. You didn’t reasoned but shared your heartfelt cry – I totally agree with your comprehension of the beauty and was happy to bookmark it as the proof of my conviction: art therapy reveals our love to other.
Tomass last blog post..what next?
@ Tomas, thank you. 🙂
Great post! Helen Keller’s quote is so very true. Personally, I believe this to be true not only of beauty. You hear so much about, for instance, how to dress to be feminine. Femininity is not a way of dressing, it’s a state of mind.
A.s last blog post..Attention vendanges!
@ A, I totally agree with what you said, that femininity is not a way of dressing, it’s a state of mind.