Anything Considered

I find it strange that for something so often thought about and spoken of in people, beauty has an increasingly narrow definition. Almost everyone has thought or said at some point that physical beauty is superficial and inner beauty in the form of character and personality is better and lasts longer. And I must admit it can feel somewhat dull for a high ideal to be made commonplace.

I think there is always a place for physical beauty. Inasmuch as we would not want to discriminate or pre-judge people for a lack of it, the truth is that physical beauty is something everyone aspires toward in some way or another. Yes, it is physical, and purely physical, but that doesn not make it in any way unimportant or merely superficial.

After all, we are physical beings. We interact and garner information using our senses. Yes, "beauty is in the eye of her beholder", but this beauty is beheld - with the eyes! And the presence of physical beauty is something wonderful to behold. Let no one deny that.

There is nothing wrong with physical beauty. The only fault is that of man, who live and die by it. They see it as more than it should be. Never overlap what is physical with what is emotional or cognitive. Society fails in that respect more often than not.

But the alternative, putting down physical beauty, is not much better. Yes, good character and personality are beautiful things. We speak of beautiful minds, beautiful hearts with just as much respect, if not more. But to act as if physical beauty is unimportant is to do the same thing as those who make it too important.

Why is it so difficult to appreciate beauty as it exists in different forms? Give credit where it's due, whether the beauty is physical or innate or both. There is no fight between them, so let us not marginalise what was made to be appreciated.