"The Earth rotated quietly on its axis, coasting through time and space. This sounds quite romantic till you consider its been doing this since its creation and that the limited scope of human perception is such that to everybody living on the planet it seemed to be just another regular day…"
I think that would make a pretty awesome start to a novel or something.
The point I would like to try and make today is that Beauty is everywhere. You already know the adage “Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder” but what does that really mean anyway? Usually it’s a phrase used to describe how one person might find another person (or thing) attractive, despite their apparent lack of attractive qualities. But this concept can be taken so much further…
It’s so easy to become disillusioned with the world. It’s so easy to become jaded and cynical. Doom and gloom fill our newspapers and tv screens daily. There is so much injustice and despair and suffering filling this world. And even for those who live a sheltered peaceful life, it’s still so easy to get stuck in a rut, going through the motions of a daily routine without truly living. Going through the daily grind just to make enough to get by…well, its little wonder people invest so much in second lives and virtual fantasies.
It takes hard work and dedication to see the beauty this world has to offer.
I think it’s one of the reasons I like Makoto Shinkai’s work so much, particularly his animated feature “5cm a Second”. He can take an action or a location that is so mundane, like catching a train or going to a convenience store, and accentuate its beauty to such a degree that you can’t help but quietly wish you lived in that world, not realising that we sorta already do.
A rainy day in the city. A slow sunset. The pattern of architecture. A person you pass by in the street. A phrase of music on the radio. A piece of graffiti. A meandering river. The certain way a particular tree grows. An abandoned building. Train Tracks glittering in the sun. A pure blue sky. A coffee shop. Endless Meadows. A jet plane at high altitude. A cloud formation. Leaves in the wind. A collection of glass bottles. The moon and the stars.
Its hard to see…but every once in a while I look out the window on yet another commute to work and I think…this is a beautiful world.
I’d like to leave you with this story I found in the newspaper. I liked it so much I cut it out and stuck it in my locker. Police in Harwich, Massachusetts, are inquiring into the owner of an excellent condition, perfectly tuned, ready to play Baldwin Acrosonic Piano, complete with stool. It was discovered abandoned in the middle of a forest by a woman who was walking her dog. The piano is quite large and heavy, so it has definitely taken several people definite time and effort to move this piano to simply leave it in the forest for no reason whatsoever. Nobody has yet come forward to claim either the piano, or responsibility for the stunt.
Isn’t that so weird? And yet something very beautiful about it too. To go to all the effort to set up a piano in a forest for no reason other than shits n giggles? That’s fantastic!
