Search for Beauty 2024

 The Alchemist revolves around a shepherd who is realizing his "Personal Legend." The shepherd chose this occupation solely because he knew he wanted to travel. On one of my favorite pages in the book, he is having a conversation with a wise old man about personal legends and the baker in town. The man tells the shepherd that the baker too wanted to travel, "But he decided first to buy his bakery and put some money aside. When he's an old man he's going to spend a month in Africa. He never realized that people are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of" (Coelho 25). The boy states that the baker should have been a shepherd and the man tells him that he decided not to because bakers are more important people than shepherds in society. The old man continued, saying: "in the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own personal legends" (Coelho 25). This page reminded m...

  I found beauty while climbing over the rocks of a jetty. Teal water glistened to my right, aimlessly drifting through the channel at the whims of an unseen currant. Small, perfectly curling waves broke across the white sand to my left. A cloudless blue sky sent rays of sun across my face as I floated across the rocks. I felt free as I had when I was younger; learning to balance and sprint across the boulders behind my house. The ease with which I found footing, traversing the jagged stones with more elegance than I could ever hope to have simply walking on flat ground. My thoughts were devoid of anything but pure happiness, as I was enveloped by the beauty in my own sense of freedom.

  Over the summer, during the beginning of August on a warm day, I was wading through the ocean waves. The sun was setting, and the temperature was around 75 degrees, but somehow the water was quite refreshing. As I felt the waves moving me back and forth, I began to sway and feel a deep sense of calm. The sun started to set in the most beautiful way I had ever seen. The sky was painted with a sea of reds, oranges, and pinks, and reflected in the water so clearly. The color of the sky reflecting on the calm waves made the water that was swaying around me look so much more blue and clear. I heard the sound of the ocean crashing against the shore and the cool, refreshing water moving across my skin. My boyfriend was with me and I broke the silence by saying, “this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen” to which he agreed. We stood in silence next to each other while wading through the waves, just being in awe of the gorgeous sunset in front of us. The funny thing is, we weren’...

  I have been pondering about a time when I experienced the phenomenon of beauty, but to be honest, I don't think I have experienced it in the same way others have described it. Beauty is something that is almost otherworldly, amazing, and breathtaking. However, I am not saying this phenomenon doesn't exist because I know it does. In fact, I believe that every aspect of life itself is beautiful.  But when you say that everything is beautiful, it means nothing is. From nature to the creations of man, every detail has something that makes it beautiful. What makes each piece of beauty significant is the thought that one day these moments of beauty will be gone and may never exist except in my memories. As someone who has traveled the world and witnessed countless moments of beauty, it is hard to measure one above the other. Each moment I am blessed to see the world around me, it continues to leave me in awe.  Overall, beauty is everywhere, and it always makes me feel happier...

     A large flock of small, black birds, hundreds of birds, flew back and forth hovering over the driveway in front of my house. They dipped down to touch the pavement, sitting there momentarily before taking off all together and flying back and forth in the wind yet again. They seemed to be in a kind of synchronous movement together, communicating silently as they danced in tune with one another.      At first I felt awestruck. This had never happened in front of my house before, and birds have always been a reminder and sign of passed loved ones in my family. My aunt had passed away a few days before, I immediately thought of her, and felt her presence. I felt a warmth and knew that the flock was a sign that she was okay, and still present in her own way.      Although death can be difficult, and losing a loved one is heartbreaking, I believe there is also beauty in the cycle of life. I had cried for the loss of my aunt, but I also fe...

   A week and a half ago, I was in Savannah, Georgia. Of course I visited the Art Museums, the Parks, and the Boardwalk, but what resonated with me the most was simply driving through the gridded streets. The old townhouses, Christmas lights, and Spanish moss meshed together to paint such a warm, beautiful scene.     The houses were old enough to where I knew they had a lot of history behind them, but there were still people actively living in them and added to the gorgeous architectures' story. Even though I didn't grow up in a house as fancy as those, they still felt warm and inviting, and like I wasn't disrupting the neighborhood's peace.    I think that the beauty wasn't just the architecture or the decorations, but also the life, love, and care that was present from the families that resided in the neighborhood.

 Encounter with Beauty (1)     I was at the National Gallery of Art looking for an American art piece for an assignment when this caught my eye; a painting. The painting, done by Jasper Francis Cropsey, is named Autumn on the Hudson River. This painting is huge, so I took my time studying every detail. The painting is framed by two trees on the sides that are covered in orange and red leaves, with dead branches and on the left a calming stream, all in the forefront of the painting. Going into it, there is fields of grass, with people doing leisure  activities; such as the man and his dog sitting on the pastures, gazing at the horizon. Further into the painting, you see the little town when people were getting established right on the river. The boats are on the Hudson River, while the sun shines through the dark clouds. In that moment taking in the painting, I found the beauty in peacefulness and harmony between nature and human, especially since this was the ti...

  Example: watching the beach at sunset       During the summer I traveled to Fort Monroe for the evening to watch the sunset on the beach. I happened to know a secluded location, from being a local, so my friend and I headed there first. Once we arrived at the beach there was no one else there except the two of us. The weather was perfect, the water was completely calm, and the sky was clear. This felt almost too perfect considering we weren't even sure if it would end up raining before we arrived. The two of us sat and quietly admired the beginning of sunset and watched the sun slowly fall and change into beautiful colors of pink and orange. This quiet admiration of nature lasted about fifteen minutes as we waited for the sun to completely set. During that time, I was able to sit quietly and listen to the calm waves and take in the moment. My friend and I took a few pictures of the sun setting and then went back to quietly admiring this natural beauty of earth...

  One specific example: when I reached the top of a mountain backpacking the Appalachian Trail Reflect on the encounter of beauty: feel: I felt as though I wanted to cry, overwhelmed with the beauty and tranquility. I was experiencing a lot of emotion because everything was perfect. think: I thought everything was more than okay; it was perfect and divine. sense: I felt the presence of God, as well as accomplished in myself for reaching the point I was at on the mountain. experience: I experienced complete and utter bliss. How beauty manifests itself in these encounters, what made it beauty: the art of it all, the trees, the life of nature, the sounds of the birds, the quietness of society, the perfect weather.

  Last Spring I got the opportunity to play the harpsichord in an orchestra concert of very old music like Bach and Handel.   I sat at the bench with the instrument in the middle of the orchestra.  There was no conductor since it was more or less chamber music, so the responsibility to stop, start, and change the speed of the music was entirely on the students.   Throughout the concert I felt as if I was in the middle of a great web of connectivity.  Each time a musical event such as a pause or a sudden slowing-down happened and all of us made eye contact and moved in sync, it felt as if we were part of one singular mechanism, producing the music as a unified force.  It made me think about how, for this briefest of moments, we could all agree in a precise and exact way on what was happening, what was being said, and what came next.  It was an entirely different experience from listening to that music, because we were summoning that music almo...

I was in central France in a region called l’Ardèche. My younger cousins and I were at the pool, which was situated on top of a hill. When the sky became darker, we knew dinner time was soon, so we got our belongings and headed back home. When I walked out of the pool area, I saw a beautiful blue-hued mountain range stretching along the horizon in the distance. The shorter mountains that were in the front appeared in a darker blue than the taller mountains juxtaposed behind it, which were a lighter blue. It seemed as if the mountains in the distance were painted on a canvas with watercolor. It was surreal to me. I stopped there to let this beautiful sight absorb me into it. This scene had no strong, bright, complex colors, but it was the simplicity, pureness, and consistency of the colors that were so captivating. I felt an overwhelming sense of vulnerability and organicness, which made my eyes water. It felt so easy, even effortless, to gaze at the mountains, my eyes could relax and f...

 One of the first times in my life that I vividly experienced beauty, I was in an unexpected place. My great-grandmother's funeral was held in the winter when I was nine years old. It was not the first time that I had lost a family member, but it was the first time that was old enough to understand what was happening. I had never been to a funeral. That day we took a walk, let balloons go into the air with notes for my namesake, shared funny stories, and created a book of all her quotes. It was the most gorgeous day that I had ever seen.       Although it was wintertime, the cold was not noticeable, which was odd since could not handle nor appreciate cold weather at that age. The sun was shining brightly, and I distinctly remember seeing bright green foliage on bushes and trees, again, odd for the winter. There were enough clouds in the sky to frame the sun, but not enough to cover its rays. I had only seen funerals on TV, where the solemn emotion is intensified...

 In early July I went to Niagara Falls as part of a road trip. It was a relatively dark and rainy day as it was storming outside. It was bad enough that the trollies weren't running, but not so bad they stopped people. Due to the weather though there were not a whole lot of other tourists around. I was there with my two closest friends as well as my significant other. Even through the crashing waves and sounds of the storm, I almost entirely tuned it out. I was entirely fixated on the falls, captivated, entranced even. The air smelled fresh and new, and it felt crisp against my skin. I was colder by the water too. There was mist and fog rising off of the water. Despite all of the noise and the chatter of my friends, it just felt quiet. Like everything was at peace. At the moment I was no longer a tourist, I wasn't really anything. I felt as though I was merely spectating as I became in tune with the nature around me. Like my body was in complete and perfect equilibrium. This fe...

I took a trip to the mountains during the winter, and my room was located in the perfect spot. Directly in front of me was where the sun would rise, and usually, I’m a pretty late sleeper, but something beautiful woke me up. I have witnessed a fair share of sun rises, but something about this one particular caught my attention. Although the sun wasn’t visible, I could see its Orange hue peek over the distant mountains, almost as if it was trying its hardest to reach for me. I lied in bed for a long time, just watching the glow become brighter and brighter. I am not a morning person, but the beauty of the changing color brought me joy, even making me smile.

One of my most recent encounters with beauty happened when I was driving my friend home after we had spent the day together. It was the 4th of January, a relatively cold day that we spent "adventuring," which we always did together. We were talking about nothing in particular, jumping around from topic to topic like we always did. While I kept my eyes focused on the road, through the windshield of the car, I saw the sky. It and the clouds were brilliant shades of orange and pink, a welcomed change from the gray skies that seemed to follow us all day. The sky passed by us quickly, both overhead and due to the sun fully setting. I remember looking up and thinking about how pretty it was at a passing glance. Even though it was just a mundane day that I got to spend with someone I care about, that sky was special to me. There weren’t any sudden realizations of beauty; I’ve always found nature beautiful in its own right, but it still stuck with me. I only looked at the sky for a c...

Welcome to the Search for Beauty blog for 2024. Make sure to start the blog with your name and the subject of the entry (Just as I have done with this post). Blog entries will be considered informal writing assignments and as such will be graded more in relation to content than style. Blog entries will contain questions and answers to questions, as well as reflections that relate to daily classroom discussions, completion of exercises, and reading assignments. Any questions the student has while reading or completing assignments should be written in their blog. Reflections may relate to connections the student makes between discussions in this class and those in other classes, between arguments raised in the readings in this class and those raised in other classes or from informal conversations. Students are encouraged to apply the ideas learned in this class to activities that take place outside of the class. These applications make great reflections. The student should bring questio...