Beauty

I got into a lengthy conversation about what obligation artists have to portray beauty and humanity. One person said that we need to tear down the media's portrayal of beauty and I'm not entirely sure this is true. But I do think that man is always trying to cover up what is ugly about man and that isn't always healthy or progressive.

I posed a suggestion that I have stood by for a long time. It was simply this: Spend the most time with what you are uncomfortable with. Especially in art. Let it, whatever it may be, confront you. Let it challenge you. And most of all let it make you think. Let me make you consider why you think it ugly or provocative. Let it make you wonder what makes you cringe or shudder or stare.

I think that one of the most beautiful things about humanity is our ability to find beauty in places that seem devoid of anything that resembles such. Trials are beautiful. Contention can beget grace, elegance, and exquisiteness. We see the small and the weary and find the painfully beautiful moments. And treasure them.

That is what is beautiful about humanity. It is not the facade of perfection, the unspotted tapestry that supposedly unites us. No, this covering only serves as something we use shade our eyes from the sun when things get too bright, or to hold on to when we don't think we can move with the currents.