Beauty
in Ugliness
“Looking
at fine paintings, we can see how the ordinary and everyday can be made
beautiful; maybe we can take the next step and see the beauty in things we take
for granted or even consider ugly.”
David
Ross
This is
a quote about reexamining things we initially see as ugly. Like dead leaves,
fallen and spent flowers, old people’s wrinkled faces. Right now, my Rose of
Sharon trees are in full bloom. Purple and white with pink throats, the flowers
are simple and beautiful. And on the ground beneath trees, lots of spent
blooms, closed and browning round the edges. People sweep them up like dead
leaves in autumn. I like seeing them spread on the grass, providing contrast in
color and texture. Some of the vines growing on the back fence have clusters of
berries, now green but turn red in fall. They also have stickers, which make
them mean-spirited, but still beautiful.
I used
to work with folks with severe disabilities, who were thought unattractive by
most people. Notice how guileless and lovely their smiles are; how
unconditional and open. As a rule, they have no boundaries around their love
and appreciation for any kindness shown them. They have child-like wonder for almost
anything new. We, who are jaded by life’s pace and punishing demands would do
well to take a second look at our brothers and sisters in chairs. We might
learn something about gratitude for the little things—such as being able to
feed oneself, or button a shirt.
I’m not
sure what the standard is that makes something or someone pretty vs. ugly, but
it seems subjective to me. Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brenan used to say when
something has a “pleasing symmetry” we like it better. By that standard, asymmetry
would be unappealing, and yet the first thing taught in Art classes is avoid symmetry—don’t
paint something smack in the middle of the canvas, place it a little to one
side. Asymmetry is disturbing. It causes our eyes to work a little harder, our
brains to engage a bit more.
My guess is that if we
stop long enough to truly see what is before us, and all around us, we will
find something our eyes appreciate and something they don’t. When we identify
the beauty in both, we will have passed the test. Today, look around you. Find
things you appreciate as beautiful, and then find things you find ugly. Now,
look more closely at them. Can you find features in the ugly ones that are beautiful,
and in the beautiful ones that are ugly? Every type of life—plants, animals,
insects, humans—has both if you have eyes to see them.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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