The Necessity of Beauty

I questioned my desire for beauty many times in my life.

Am I superficial to want things to be beautiful?

Am I superficial for not wanting to stay in places that are not aesthetically appealing? 

I don’t like to fly with low-cost airlines. It makes me feel like a herd animal. I don’t like to shop in low-cost shops. It makes me feel the epitome of consumerism. I don’t like to wear clothes that are just functional. They make me feel ugly.

Do I have a need for things to be expensive? 

Am I spoiled?

I feel out of sync when there is no beauty.

It doesn’t make me feel good. 

But why?

As I grew older I would find myself questioning this more and more.

As I would become more aware, I would find myself more and more disturbed by things not being beautiful. 

I couldn’t cope with non-beauty.

And the need to answer the question for myself became substantial as I felt bad for my desire for beauty and my inability to cope with ugliness.

And the quest began... Why do I value beauty so much?

I discovered that my need for beauty had nothing to do with monetary value.

Most of the time beauty would cost me more. Yes.

But not necessarily.

I have stayed in the most luxurious places in the world.

I have worn very expensive clothing.

And I would find myself not necessarily feeling good or better because of it.

There must be something else to beauty than a monetary value, I thought.

Beauty evidently doesn’t equal expensive.

Last year, for example, in my small Greek island home I was surrounded by natural beauty; olive trees, the sea, sunset views. I stayed in a little 30m2 studio owned by a woman that honored the space and carefully chose the interior for it. It wasn’t expensive but it was all bathed in love and soul.

So beauty, I discovered, is everything BUT a price tag.

Beauty equals soul, care, love, and the connection to the divine within us.

Beauty in tangible form is created when a person has connected to their soul. When they have brought the intangible (spirit), into the tangible world (the material world we can sense with our 5 senses).

Beauty is sacred.

Beauty is at the core of every human being and through beauty, we reconnect with divinity. 

Beauty helps us connect to our essence, finding our wholeness with the Universe.

I think this is also why we humans love to be in nature.

The most extraordinary beauty is to be found there.

The sunsets, the moon, a flower…

No cost. 

But it makes us feel whole and connected to something bigger than us.

Humanity is in deep need of beauty. In our pragmatic and left-brain-guided, analytical, and methodical world where functionality and price are more valued than beauty, we removed an essential part of our existence.  Unintentionally and out of need at times, but we did. 

And with that, we removed our deep soul’s need for beauty.

With the desire to include beauty in our lives I believe we participate in making the world a more sacred, loving, and beautiful place to co-exist in.

Beauty is as much needed for our survival as is love.

Beauty is not a by-product, it is a necessity.

Beauty, I believe, is needed for a healthy existence, for conscious growth, and for an elevated experience in the everyday life of our ordinary humanness.

May you soak yourself in beauty today (and not feel guilty about it), dear friend.