Thank you, Sam, for this articulate reminder that justice and beauty have a relationship with each other and that we should seek to find the balance. There is beauty in everything if we take time to look and appreciate.
Lovely treatise Sam. It reminded me of a theory posited by anthropologists, that tells us that religion began when early humans visited places of beauty. It awakened me to know that. And think each of us travel to the distant past every time we look at the sea, or at the forest. So very well written -
Oh that makes such sense - that awe and wonder at natural beauty should give rise to feeling part of something much vaster, more powerful than us and ultimately benevolent. Have you read Jane Goodall on seeing the chimps she studied fall into a reverie by a big waterfall? Perhaps it's not just humans that can feel a sense of beauty and wonder.
The Fermi Paradox is the idea that we haven't found any technologically advanced colonies or outposts - which we would expect to find if technology continued lineraly from early beginnings to the present.
But some scientists now believe that instead on going "forward", civilizations returned to their natural origins - so much the wiser. Happiness being the driving force.
I have joined subtrack; thank you so much for the referral. I still need help in navigating it... wondering how to edit published content (can it be edited?), and how to inbed images. Have an awesome day!
Sam, thank you for these connections. I chase symmetry in my photographs. I have a passion for fairness. I'd never connected the two. Oh, and I'm a Libra. It seems obvious now!
This is so beautiful, I'm so glad I came across it. The search for beauty, in all its forms -- in love, in friendship, in nature -- keeps me going every day, and I only realise now, it goes hand in hand with my search for justice, equality, that symmetry of safety.
We are such strange creatures. We make everything the extremes. When my family lived in FL we found it pretty only for the first month but never found it relaxing.
The beauty we make is too perfect and neat. The lawns are like carpets and your eyes are drawn to the one leaf or twig out of place.
It becomes uglier and uglier the longer the eye stares. It makes my senses uneasy.
The faces we have modified are too perfect. My eyes must avert from them because I can not relax when I look at them. I have mild reaction of horror at first glance at a perfect surgery face. I am not sure why other than I know it is altered.
I know I am sensitive and I have a clear aesthetic. Babies seem to agree with me. They cry at these faces as well.
I can't understand why most are not freaked by the scuptured perfect.
I can't understand why we destroy the harmony of imperfectly, naturally beautiful. Where our brain compensates for the minor differences and relaxes in them.
Thanks Kerri. It was our conversations during the sessions in Writing Through Emergency, about holding beauty and joy alongside the grief and horror that sent me back to re-read Scarry. Thank you for holding that space so beautifully for us.
Thank you, Sam, for this articulate reminder that justice and beauty have a relationship with each other and that we should seek to find the balance. There is beauty in everything if we take time to look and appreciate.
Yes, I think Elaine Scarry manages to tease something out that we're often only dimly aware of when we encounter beauty. Glad you enjoyed reading!
What a beautiful read, Sam. Thank you for sharing this ❤️
Thanks Eli! Good to have you here on Substack!
It's good to be here. Happy I found you here too 😊
Lovely treatise Sam. It reminded me of a theory posited by anthropologists, that tells us that religion began when early humans visited places of beauty. It awakened me to know that. And think each of us travel to the distant past every time we look at the sea, or at the forest. So very well written -
Oh that makes such sense - that awe and wonder at natural beauty should give rise to feeling part of something much vaster, more powerful than us and ultimately benevolent. Have you read Jane Goodall on seeing the chimps she studied fall into a reverie by a big waterfall? Perhaps it's not just humans that can feel a sense of beauty and wonder.
Yes. Precisely the original source I indirectly refered to.
The Fermi Paradox is the idea that we haven't found any technologically advanced colonies or outposts - which we would expect to find if technology continued lineraly from early beginnings to the present.
But some scientists now believe that instead on going "forward", civilizations returned to their natural origins - so much the wiser. Happiness being the driving force.
I have joined subtrack; thank you so much for the referral. I still need help in navigating it... wondering how to edit published content (can it be edited?), and how to inbed images. Have an awesome day!
Sam, thank you for these connections. I chase symmetry in my photographs. I have a passion for fairness. I'd never connected the two. Oh, and I'm a Libra. It seems obvious now!
And thanks for another addition to my TBR pile.
Oh that's perfect! Everything in balance!
This is so beautiful, I'm so glad I came across it. The search for beauty, in all its forms -- in love, in friendship, in nature -- keeps me going every day, and I only realise now, it goes hand in hand with my search for justice, equality, that symmetry of safety.
Yes, I think Scarry manages to make that relationship really clear. It's one we tend to feel but not articulate. Glad you enjoyed reading!
We are such strange creatures. We make everything the extremes. When my family lived in FL we found it pretty only for the first month but never found it relaxing.
The beauty we make is too perfect and neat. The lawns are like carpets and your eyes are drawn to the one leaf or twig out of place.
It becomes uglier and uglier the longer the eye stares. It makes my senses uneasy.
The faces we have modified are too perfect. My eyes must avert from them because I can not relax when I look at them. I have mild reaction of horror at first glance at a perfect surgery face. I am not sure why other than I know it is altered.
I know I am sensitive and I have a clear aesthetic. Babies seem to agree with me. They cry at these faces as well.
I can't understand why most are not freaked by the scuptured perfect.
I can't understand why we destroy the harmony of imperfectly, naturally beautiful. Where our brain compensates for the minor differences and relaxes in them.
Yes, good point, symmetry in nature is always slightly imperfect. Mechanical symmetry is dead by comparison.
🤍🤍🤍 These words
Thanks Kerri. It was our conversations during the sessions in Writing Through Emergency, about holding beauty and joy alongside the grief and horror that sent me back to re-read Scarry. Thank you for holding that space so beautifully for us.
That means so much to me. It was a joy to have that beautiful me together , thanks for your open and kind heart x
I was about to send you this, Kerri, but you're here already. Xx
Such a gorgeous read today. So grateful to have read it. 💜
Thank you for a new perspective on Elaine Scarry! I only knew The Body In Pain.