384. The Joy In Beauty

When I see something beautiful, I’m stopped in my tracks. It’s the shock of beauty itself that causes this arrest. Sometimes it’s something I’ve literally seen, so I stop to look at it more carefully. On other occasions, beauty reaches me through another mode of perception — it’s a beautiful sound, scent, flavour, or texture that I experience.

In every case, my attention is fully captured by the beautiful, which surpasses everything else in my immediate surroundings. I want to perceive as much of it as I can, for I cannot escape the feeling that by observing, it will be brought closer to me. I want to become one with the beautiful other. I want to incorporate its beauty into my own self.

The experience of beauty is always joyful. It seems to meet some profound need that lives inside me. At the same time, the beautiful transcends whatever pleasure it brings. It seems to indicate a greater truth about the world or the being that I am. I may not know what this truth is, or be able to put it into words, but the simple act of observing the beautiful adds to my awareness.

In meeting my need for awareness, the beautiful provides even more joy. I learn something new about the world around me, and in seeing this, my experience of existence broadens. I grow into more, and this growth is itself a joyful experience. It is no mere passive transformation — the beautiful, by expanding my awareness, also demands a response.

Through the experience of beauty, my choices and actions are transformed. I see more of what is true and I understand a little more of what I must do. The beautiful not only supplies the gift of immediate joy through the experience of it, it also shows me the path towards a more joyful life.