The pursuit of beauty

Lately, I’ve been exploring lots of beauty content, primarily on YouTube. And admittedly, I’ve probably overconsumed beauty content at this point. But being who I am, I have thought about if there might be a deeper, underlying reason for this particular interest over other methods of escapism. While a few personal reasons spring to mind, I wondered if there could be something deeper to the pursuit of beauty I was on.

As I reflected, I remembered my Aesthetics class in college, which dealt with questions regarding beauty and “the beautiful.” Beauty is an ideal, like truth or justice, and people have often dedicated their lives to the pursuit of their favorite ideal. But to me, it seems that when it comes to ideals, beauty ends up last. When compared to truth or justice, beauty seems superficial. How can the pursuit of beauty lead to betterment of yourself the way that pursuing truth can? How can pursuing beauty lead to betterment of society the way pursuing justice can? If you pursue beauty, what good does that do, for yourself or for anyone else?

While I understand the cynicism and sometimes outright distaste for “beauty,” I think that we’re being unfair to beauty. I believe that beauty is capable of inspiring us to live creative, joyful lives. Hear me out.

Beauty and its bad reputation

A lot of people hear “beauty” and they may immediately think of several negative connotations might arise. This is especially true if we’re talking about an intentional pursuit of beauty. The following are a few negative associations with beauty that I’ve come up.

Pursuing beauty is:

• Vain—People think beauty is just for vain people who prioritize their appearance over the quality of their character. Some people pretend they are morally superior for not putting effort into their appearance. Instead of putting effort into something superficial, they spend that time doing something intellectual or truly beneficial. And of course, vain people exist, but pursuing beauty doesn’t make you vain.
• Conformist and privileged—When it comes to physical appearance, society often dictates what is beautiful or not. If your physical appearance follows these social norms, then you are privileged in ways that other people aren’t. I think ‘beautiful’ people can be oblivious to their privilege, while ‘not beautiful’ people might feel resentment for the unfairness. And there are many people who, wanting the privilege that comes with being beautiful, are willing to pay so that they can appear more like societal ideal, which makes them conformist. And being able to have the money to conform is its own form of privilege.
• Materialistic—Given the benefits bestowed to beautiful people, there is a whole industry around products that promise to make you beautiful. People buy things they don’t need in order to look a certain way. When their appearance isn’t magically transformed (because it can’t be), they spend more, and go to more extreme lengths to achieve a desired look. This can lead to obsession with their appearance, an obsession that looks an awful lot like vanity.

If we take a step back and examine these thoughts, we’ll see that they mostly focus on people’s appearance and related behaviors.

But beauty is more than how people look.

Beauty also includes the beauty of the natural world, the beauty of our cultures, the beauty of those things that fill us with happiness. I want us to think of beauty more broadly, and think of all forms of beauty, both human and non-human. The pursuit of beauty isn’t about your physical appearance, although your physical appearance could be a part of it.

The pursuit of beauty is about living life deeply and fully. It’s about experiencing life with your complete attention instead of being lost in your thoughts. As someone guilty of getting lost in her thoughts, beauty brings me back down to earth, back into my body, and back to the present.

Beauty, inspiration, and life

I think that beauty is more inspiring than any other ideal. Yes, some people are motivated by the pursuit of truth or the pursuit of justice, and I’m not saying that truth or justice are unworthy of pursuit. However, I think that beauty is unique because of how it feels. If you have ever been struck by the vivid colors of the sunset, or the sound of your favorite song, or the words of your favorite novel, then you know that you just feel their beauty. You don’t have to second-guess it or really explain it.

When we get lost in our thoughts, thinking about what is true or just, we get frustrated by how our present reality doesn’t align with our sense of what is right. The disparity between our ideals and our reality can be motivating for some people, but I think it can also make you jaded and apathetic. I know I have felt the “What’s the use?” attitude that usually ends up with my feeling frustrated and helpless. Our hearts grow hardened and cold, and with our cold hard hearts we are cold and cruel to each other.

But when beauty strikes our senses and our hearts, we’re brought face to face with the fact that reality is…beautiful. It’s lovely. There is so much beauty right now, and we don’t have to work for it. It’s there, waiting for us to recognize it.

When we have recognize beauty, our cold hard hearts might warm up and soften, just a little. Beauty reminds us that we have a heart that feels, not just a mind that thinks. It reminds us that the world is so vast that it can contain the worries and troubles of our lives and the most wondrous and precious things too. Beauty can inspire you. The etymology for “inspire” means to breathe into. Beauty that inspires can breathe new life into you. You are not dead inside; you are very much alive, and that is wonderful.

But sometimes we are uncomfortable with our emotions, even our positive ones. I think we are uncomfortable because we like to pretend that we are extremely and perfectly rational, and we want to completely control our emotions and not get swept away by sensation. (And by control, we really just mean numbing our emotions or ignoring them completely.) So rather than open our minds and hearts to the wonder of beautiful things, we sometimes choose to spurn beauty and consider it less worthy than ideals like truth or justice. We cast it aside as “superficial” because beautiful things “don’t last” and if it isn’t permanent and unchanging, then it’s not worth pursuing.

A beautiful thing is impermanent, but beauty always exists in some form or another. Embracing the mutable nature of beauty can teach us how to relax around the idea of change, which can make us more resilient even as we expand our capacity for peace, love, and compassion. If you train yourself, you will notice beauty every day. The blue sky, a gentle breeze, the smell of dinner, your friend’s laugh. If you pay attention to the beauty surrounding you, you’ll find your heart expanding and softening at the same time. And as you begin to notice beauty, you’ll realize that you can bring beauty into the world.

The pursuit of beauty: inviting beauty back into our lives

Because beauty can inspire and uplift, because feeling the pleasure of beauty can expand our hearts, I don’t think it’s at all foolish to pursue beauty. I don’t mean you have to develop some overly complicated grooming regimen or conform to societal gender expectations. I just mean that you take beauty more seriously by appreciating the beauty that already exists and by creating beauty wherever you go.

The world has an ugly side to it—violence and hatred and fear. And it has a beautiful side to it—peace and love and hope. Both sides coexist, but you can decide which side you’ll contribute to with your thoughts, your words, and your actions.

I believe that taking the time to truly appreciate beauty can open our hearts and our minds and show us that there is, in fact, a different way to live and think about things. We don’t speak of conquering, destroying, or neglecting beauty. We speak of appreciating, creating, and nurturing beauty. I think this shift in our mindset could lead to many positive changes.

What if you challenged yourself to live and think more beautifully? What would that look like? Would you be able to be still for a few moments and appreciate the sky in all its changing splendor? Would you speak with more love and compassion for others?

I hope you try it out. I hope you reconsider what beauty means, and how it deserves more respect than it gets.