Can beauty save the world?

I was stumped on my next blog post, particularly for this Tuesday where the two blooms tend to delve into deeper issues. Usually I have so much to blog about because things are always happening around me. So this Tuesday I had no idea what to post and then it happened. I was at a service this past Sunday and I heard the speaker answer someone’s question by saying “Does beauty save the world?” by Dostoevsky.  That phrase and my answers to that question stirred something within me and suddenly I had my blog post!

Let’s look at the definition of beauty according to a dictionary reference: 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).

Why? There is an eternal hope and optimism. There is joy, there is wonder, there is passion, there is love, there is a pause in whatever else is going on at the moment, there is enraptured pleasure, it’s transcendent. You experience an explosion of endorphins at that moment.

So I think if the world was dying and there was enough of us that believed in beauty and experienced it’s sheer wonder, then I believe it could save the world. If I was the sole person left I like to think my eyes, soul and spirit that had seen so much beauty could carry me through no matter what.

Can anyone see this beauty? I believe it’s possible but there have to be some key things in place: a willingness to look and see beyond what is right in front of you. An openness to interpret what you see and not get caught up in what you think you should see or what you think others want you to see. For that moment you have to let go and surrender to the awe and wonder around you. Cynicism has to be swept aside and you have to allow yourself to experience it.

Where do I see beauty? There is no one answer but a good place to start is in nature. I get inspired to create all our products from the beautiful west coast where I live. When I walk in the forest I think about the smells around me. While I’m at the ocean I think of the different notes that make up that marine like scent. I’m inspired by fashion, by artistry of any kind, by architecture, by words, by music. Beauty is really endless once you’ve experienced it and have opened your heart to it.

Where do you find beauty?

An interesting link for the definition of beauty is the Urban Dictionary. The first description by Bulletproof Marshmallow is a great one but I think it can be found without someone sharing their soul with you. I’ve experienced beauty alone.