On Beauty

What more can we say?

A woman, her watch and her spritz, perhaps in the Cinque Terre. (Image: Ligure watches)

What would you expect to read about beauty, other than that it is in the eye of the beholder and skin deep?

Beauty being subjective is a major cliche but is accurate. I see people waxing poetic about music, books, movies, watches and cars that I find banal or worse. There is no correct opinion.

We tend to think of beauty visually, but there is much beauty in sound, taste and touch.

Art is a very subjective quest for beauty and self expression.

Music, paintings and sculpture can all evoke strong emotions. My son is training to be a composer and conductor, for the sake of sharing musical beauty with audiences, some of which music he has created himself. We can get goosebumps from a piece of music. His is a noble calling.

The dumbest thing ever written about beauty is that Beauty is terror.

We can thank American novelist Donna Tartt for that clunker, from her best-selling novel, The Secret History. I hated the book and could not finish it, but the story of a group of entitled classics students killing people made millions for Ms, Tartt, reinforcing our eye of the beholder truism.

Art, music, majestic scenery and personal beauty can create feelings of admiration, appreciation, calm and even great agitation. There were near riots in Paris after the opening performances of Igor Stravinsky’s Ballets Russes score Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) in 1913.

Beauty can foment envy from those who perceive that someone else has more of it than they do, but terror?

Puhleese!

Beauty has its judges and arbiters, like critics, curators, conductors, music producers and directors, but opinions on what is beautiful vary widely.

People who are widely judged to be beautiful may seem to have an easy path through life, but there are also costs to being so genetically blessed.

Watch an attractive woman walk into a room and observe how the reaction to her cleaves almost perfectly along gender lines.

Men appraise and appreciate her and may even stare. Many women stiffen visibly and become instantly hostile, scanning partners for signs that he has noticed the intruder. To the extent that they react with hostility, this reaction is driven by a sense that they must compete in a field they deem very important.

Although their days may seem charmed, attractive women do not have an easy life. They are instantly disliked by many women and pestered incessantly by men. They have to swat us away, like gnats, which has to be exhausting.

Many men do not approach them, for fear of rejection, so some beauties may feel like they are disproportionately attracting pushy lotharios. In some circumstances, their pursuit by males can become harassment, or worse.

Men may appreciate feminine beauty but often fail to understand the effort required to maintain a well turned out appearance. Grooming, hair, makeup and clothing consume a lot of time and expense. Though some women very much enjoy this, they also pay much more than men do for clothing and haircuts, for example. They suffer for their art.

Another truism about beauty is that it is fleeting, because people age.

Emerald Lake, B.C., Canada (Image: Tripadvisor)

Something I enjoy about our Rocky Mountains is that they have been here for millions of years but remain eternally beautiful, altering so slowly that they seem unchanged in our human time scale of a mere few decades. Apart from today’s larger crowds, the stunning scenery at Emerald Lake feels unchanged since my childhood, half a century ago.

Psychologists tell us that we all attribute positive traits to people who we deem beautiful, but mountains are completely indifferent to us. While mountains loom majestically and mesmerize us, we have to remind ourselves that they are not benevolent.

If we make mistakes related to clothing, water, ice thickness, crevasses, avalanches, food or bears, our beautiful, familiar mountains can kill us. That danger just underscores our respect for them. Mountains inspire us, but they take no responsibility for us and we need to be vigilant when among them. Their beauty is not terror. It commands our respect.

As we find ourselves bogged down with worries or work drudgery, let’s remember to find ways to cultivate more beauty in our lives.

P.S.

If you are tempted to hike with Bluetooth speakers blaring, just don’t. Nobody asked you to force your idea of musical beauty on others while we are trying to enjoy our quiet, visual feast.