What comes first to your mind?
It's amazing how varied of responses can stem from this one word. It truly can be anything, from a beautiful picture, to a beautiful person, to a beautiful moment.
If you were to look up the definition right now, it would return as "a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, esp. the sight."
What's great about this is that in its own definition, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. It is as unique in definition as it is in the world.
When I think of beauty, I also have a flurry of images, thoughts, people, and objects that rush my mind like a waterfall. I am, by nature, a dreamer, so as a part of my mission with this post, I want to encourage that you be a dreamer in this moment as well.
We live in a world where beauty is often manipulated to be standardized, run of the mill, status quo. This is where my extremely Latin and stubborn side comes out. I think we can all agree what we consider "beautiful" is superbly unique. Perfect example: I am what you would call somewhat of a music snob, I like what I like and have no qualms about it. Give me an iPod with some Young the Giant and Otis Redding and I'm set for life. To me, when I hear their music, I define it as beautiful, and breath-taking, and, forgive me for this pun, "music to my ears." My brother on the other hand, quite the opposite. He was born and bred to be a Rock Star. I'm talking Metallica and AC/DC nonstop. He practiced his guitar for hours and hours until his fingers bled, until he nailed the songs he loved most. One day, in one of our many tiffs about playing music in the car (he'd been driving so he clearly won the argument), he played "Master of Puppets," turned up the stereo, and said "listen to that...man, what skill." At that moment I understood. To him, that was beauty. That was his art, and it made him happy, and in that moment, I thought nothing could be more beautiful.
This makes me think of many moments that go on in life that go unappreciated. This is the time when many people are finding out about acceptances into schools, be it college, graduate school, law school. In that moment, when that person opens up their envelope and sees "Congratulations." Beautiful. When someone realizes their dream is coming true. Beautiful. Other moments? Seeing someone for the first time in a while, a joyful reunion. Beauty in the smiles of those who are simply wish you to "have a good day" or "enjoy." Beauty in a child's face when they look up to their parent. Beauty in the excitement of going on a date, or meeting up with friends, or even going home (especially those who are away for a long period of time, like us collegiate folk.)
Sometimes, you need to escape to understand what you consider beautiful. My friend and I recently took a break from it all and decided to drive to Panama City Beach for the day. Why not? We're young, we had a break, and in this cold winter mindset, a little sun never hurt anyone. This was our chance to cast our worries away, so with that, we got in our car with some good music and hit the road. We went for some sunshine, but what we got from our adventure as a whole was so much more.
So, this is my challenge to you all. take the time to reflect, right here, right now. What in this very moment, is beautiful to you?
Let it be.
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