This past weekend, I attended a conference and one of the breakout sessions was titled Beautifying Through Art. Two of my favorite topics, beauty and art. The facilitator introduced herself then began to share attributes of beauty.
Florence
“Beauty is unpossesive~we are drawn to beauty in a non-selfish way.” There is no ulterior motive for enjoying beauty, other than to purely enjoy it.
“Beauty is unselving~it takes us out of ourselves.” We forget about “me” and get lost in the mesmerizing effect of beauty.
“Beauty tends to be unprecedented and incomparable~it has a sense of being new.” Beauty always seems fresh, unable to be captured in it’s full essence.
“Beauty is life giving~it quickens your heart and if it leaves, it retracts your heart.” When we partake it beauty, all of our senses are engaged. If the beauty, like a sun set fades, so does our beating heart.
“Beauty evokes in us a desire to protect.” We protect by placing beauty in museums, in photographs on our refrigerators.
“Beauty evokes a desire for us to share.” We can’t wait to tell someone about what we just experienced. We want the reach of beauty’s hand, to extend.
“Beauty points to life, reconciliation and justice.”
Pieta
She quoted Iris Murdoch, “The enjoyment of art is a training in the love of virtue.”
I know right?! I’m still digesting the idea of exploring the virtues of art and beauty. And to think, this was just the first 10 minutes of our session. We went on to talk about the universal language of art and how beauty can transform the ugliest of places, oppressed cities and even awaken sleeping souls. What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your response to any of the above statements.
