Jacob O’Neill
English 110
Professor Emerson
April 14th, 2018
What is Your Beauty?
In today’s society media is used to display numerous forms of mainstream ideals. Through media we get many different portrayals of beauty displayed continuously in all aspects of our life. As a society we have grown complacent, accepting what media projects as beautiful. I believe this may be the problem with our society. We neglect to search for a true understanding of beauty in our personal experiences which inhibits us from discovering the potential we have for improving ourselves. In today’s world, having a complete understanding of beauty is a essential to raise our ability to live our best life.
Once we are able to understand the interconnections of our brain and what causes our attraction to an object and our appreciation of an experience we can greater understand the aspects of life that bring us joy. Schiller has created a theory on how the brain processes beauty and Armstrong discusses this idea in his article, La Bella Vita, his theory is centered around the idea of the two drives in human nature that work together to determine what is deemed pleasing. The sense drive is fed by our desire for instant gratification. This drive is responsible for our appreciation of the moment. The form drive however is used to interpret “rational order and abstract understanding” (Armstrong). The sensation that we receive from our experience of beauty derives from the relationship between our two drives. Schiller expresses this sensation in his essay through his words, “When we find something beautiful, we are called towards a vision of harmonious perfection.” (Armstrong). Schiller believes this sensation of harmonious perfection comes from our experience of true beauty. In Schiller’s words, “true beauty is whatever speaks powerfully to both sides of our nature at the same time.” (Armstrong). Once true beauty is able to be identified the observer may now use this understanding to dig into what it is that brought them this sensation. By pinpointing the aspects of an object that are beautiful in your eyes you now can use this information to determine what elements of the human experience that you should surround yourself with in order to live a life that brings you constant peace and happiness.
Many intellectuals have used Schiller’s theory of the psychological drives in humans to provoke new theories on why an object is perceived as beautiful. Many American citizens struggle internally to meet these expectations of beauty set by our society. Our struggle stems from our tendency to overemphasize the aspects of beauty that are visible at the surface level and dismissing the aspects of beauty that are not visible to the eye. If we are able to understand the beautiful aspects of an object on a deeper level we will be able to apply this skill to our lives by finding the aspects of beauty that speak to us on a personal level to help us achieve true happiness.
It is often thought that beauty and wealth will result in a happy life, however I feel this is a mistake. Rather it is how we are able to understand this beauty and use it to apply to our lives that will bring us happiness. we should focus on the make up of what it is that is bringing us happiness in beautiful objects in order to live a joyful life. In The School of Life’s video they introduced their stance on the process of finding an object beautiful. They feel that when we are exposed to an object the sense of harmonious perfection we feel from the object is derived from a characteristic the object, and thus is a desire in our own lives. They explain this by saying the beauty we interact with, “is not only a quality in the object, but a longing in ourselves.” (The School of Life) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn0bDD4gXrE . So in a sense if you are drawn to the structure of a piece, perhaps integrating more structure into your life would benefit your mental well-being. In a project by Parker Belsky and Nick Scarfo, they discuss the pyramids in Egypt, their geometric nature, and the effect it had on its creators. They depict its effect through their words, “The pyramids are considered a symbol of power for the pharaohs who ordered them built, and for the people constructing them”. By building these great masterpieces the people of Egypt felt a sense of pride and power through the beautiful architect of their pyramids, which are now considered one of the 8 wonders of the world. The power and pride that came from their creation was important to their health and prosperity. Now I challenge you to take your interaction with beauty beyond your past experiences. No longer should you let the moment pass. The next time you experience beauty I simply request that, don’t disregard the beauty for what it is and learn something about yourself from the experience.
If you are able to appreciate your personal beauty rather than attempting to conform to society’s portrayal of beauty you will experience less sadness and failure and more happiness. Beauty through the lense of society is constantly
changing and progression towards even more impractical standards. The majority of society doesn’t fit this standard of beauty and media uses this to push products to their viewers and make millions of dollars a year selling products that are promoted to improve beauty. Daily society members struggle internally to accept themselves because constantly they are being told how to look and what it means to be beautiful. Can you imagine how this can wear on your wellbeing? If you had a circle hole would you try to fill it with a square peg? Of course not, Then why do we constantly compare ourselves to the standards set by our celebrities and our media. The world is filled with individuals and that is what makes our race so great. We are all unique in our makeup. Every person you cross paths with is an individual and that is why it makes no logical sense why we are expected to conform to a blanket portrayal of beauty. Finding our individual beauty is the only way we can be happy and comfortable as ourselves. Discovering ourselves will bring us peace and understanding to our interests and goals as an individual.
In closing, if as individuals we are able to step out of our comfort zones and disregard societal pressures we will better appreciate the aspects of our being that are beautiful. The power will be in our hands if we are able to develop our own understanding of beauty and use it to improve our life. We now have the power to decide for ourselves what is important to us and forget what our cookie cutter society wants us to be like. This new found power will raise our happiness and passion for life. Overall we would benefit as individuals and as a whole world to reform our understanding of beauty .
Works Cited:
Armstrong, John. “Can Beauty Help Us to Become Better People? – John Armstrong | Aeon Essays.” Aeon, 25 Apr. 2018.
“Misrepresentation: Beauty Defined.” The Odyssey Online, Image. 7 Nov. 2017.
Scarfo, Nick, and Belsky, Parker. “Let’s Talk About Art.” 26 Mar. 2018, University of New England.
“What Is Art For?” Youtube, uploaded by The School of Life, 21 Sept. 9, 2014.
