Giving in to Beauty

Amy Carpenter

April, 2015

“Since feeling is first

who pays any attention

to the syntax of things

will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool

while spring is in the world

my blood approves

and kisses are a better fate

than wisdom”

-E. E. Cummings

It’s April in Maine and never have we been so happy to see mud.  Mud means earth, and thaw, and the occasional fecund breezes promising grass and flowers and most of all, warmth. One can almost hear the chorus, singing a rendition of the Oliver Twist classic, “Mud, glorious mud!!”.  After all, this winter held the wildest combination of cold, wind and snow ever remembered. There were times when the drifts rose so high against our doorstep (windows, propane tank, driveway and cars), we had to “shovel” out with mittened hands the piles that reached above our chins, while 40 mile-an-hour winds whipped faces and we tried in vain to clear our noses of an endless stream of snot. Entire afternoons spent shoveling, with the wearying knowledge that in two days-time we’d have to do it all over again when the next storm hit.  So why shouldn’t we sing now that the glorious mud is finally here? The brisk days of April will maintain their hold on the earth a bit longer, mud or no, as we wait for the first flowers to break their fragile heads through the soil. Until then, we must find Beauty where we will, for just like a first kiss, Beauty awakens us as if from the sweetest of dreams.

Roger Scruton, in “Why Beauty Matters”, sets forth that Beauty reflects human desires, and therefore “should be reinstated as a central concern for our civilization”.  Beauty is as necessary to the human condition, he states, as truth or goodness.  Likewise, scientific study informs us that the rear portion of the brain delivers our inspiration. In moments of pause and reflection, the creation of new thought, artistic insight and worldly endeavor is first formed from these messages sent by the back brain.  The eventual expression of these ideas, no matter how small, allows us to live in connection with all things, since the whole of life is made up of creative force.

Beauty provides us sufficient pause to receive such necessary insight. Whether spying a glimpse of the rising blood moon or a first encounter with Gustav Klimt, Beauty revives our soul. Within its short halting breath, we get a chance to live at once outside the world we know, to be transported to a place where that one small perfection utterly reins, at least for us in that moment. Whether it comes in the form of a well-loved painting, or the first red teaberry currants spotted in the melting snow, chance encounters with Beauty enliven us. Newfound possibilities and angles are made available when our brain awakens to that one passing image or view.

In the mud of April, with snow still possible and summer an approaching dream, it may be just the time to fill our cups with Beauty, in whatever manner we see fit. To chase after it the way we do a professional challenge or potential for love, to make Beauty our daily replenishment, as vital as food or drink. For without it, we find ourselves in a spiritual desert, where life is nothing more than utility, devoid of meaning.   As Plato said, “Beauty is the revelation of God in the here and now”.   We join in that revelation each time we surrender to such moments, finding ourselves relieved of suffering, newly inspired and imbued with the divine light of heaven.