THE I-I-I-I OF THE BEHOLDER!

The secret of beauty! There are so many people out there whose complexion or height or weight or girth or hair or gait or so-many-other-things do not fit the commonly defined notion of beauty. And there are so many common definitions of beauty.

That is the secret, we try to go by definitions; definitions of that which is all-encompassing, omnipresent, indefinable, eternal, absolute… perfect.

We hear and read so very often, that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. That does not mean that the object of observation is at the mercy of the beholder and therefore must endlessly endeavour to please. Rather, it implies that if the beholder cannot discern the beauty lavishly spread around by god or nature or any name that is responsible for shaping this world, then the beholder is sorely missing out on something!

All plants and animals and objects of creation other than mankind have their place in the scheme of things taken for granted, coming and going, thriving and dying, in eternal passages of time and making best of their surroundings as they are. Only man is able to think and scheme and plan to the extent of detachment from nature and use of manufactured tools and devices.

This capability to think and plan and discern and act separates mankind from all other beings. At the very base of a pyramid of thought, this is the reason why human population grows to cover entire continents; planning leads to survival. A little higher, measured by the capability to survive, lies the thirst for strength or power, physical or financial; an instinct that seems to insure survival. The race for power and security leads to the situation where everyone all the time, is in a psychological condition of clinging, grabbing, envying and guarding one’s acquisitions or achievements.

Hankering for a better house, a better partner, a better car, a better dress, a better life…. And one does not stop to see the flower by the roadside…. or the gleam in a child’s eyes…. or the natural scent of someone who just brushed by. So more perfumes are put on to invade the deadened sense, faces are painted to highlight ‘beauty’ like the dazzling schizophrenia of the disco lights, powders are pumped in to swell sinewy muscle, and ‘accessories’ are added to complete the garish picture.

The attention of the eye of the beholder is diverted from the object of beauty towards a whole lot of equipment that does not accompany one to bed, fill one’s stomach, or comfort a crying child.

Someone makes a tidy profit, and we wear shaded glasses against the ‘glare’ of sun, water, snow and sand, but we are afraid to screw up our eyes and LOOK, and behold the beauty!

If this person or that place or certain animal or plant or situation or the world in general does not hold its share of beauty, the inadequacy lies in the eye of the beholder, not in the object of appraisal.

There is latent beauty all around, inside each one, apparent to the discerning eye. Maybe we need to make a little effort to let go, to soak in, to stop and bask, and experience the top of the pyramid, where truth, beauty, love and god are all one.