Search for Beauty 2024

While reading Augustine’s confessions, a big theme that occurs is the dichotomy between good and evil. In this circumstance, this has to do with good vs evil being present while also believing in God. However, upon reflecting on this portion I read I began to think about how good is associated with beauty and evil is associated with ugliness. In my opinion, things that are seen as opposite are used to demonstrate an absence of something else. For example, shadows are seen as being evil and bad, but it is the opposite of light, which is supposedly good. However, there is no direct opposite to beauty. Beauty is subjective and it can be found in just about anything. Finding a physical characteristic about something or someone that society collectively sees as “ugly” is nonexistent. There is beauty in everything, and it's important to flip the script so that things can be more than just beautiful or ugly. This strict definition of beauty needs to be changed to incorporate all perspecti...

  Upon reading this book, it made me reflect on beauty in terms of beauty standards. This book took place during a time where women were not respected in the workplace. In this story, Elizabeth Zott is a chemist who is very brilliant but is unable to continue her job due to unfair stereotypes. Due to that, she ends up getting another job being a chef on a cooking show. Her lifestyle is quite different than other women during this time because she is so brilliant, and this is reflected in how she is perceived by the men around her. Although times have changed, and women are more respected in their fields the beauty standards have not changed much. Even though beauty is subjective there are certain standards that seem to make someone inherently beautiful. Unfortunately, these standards are not attainable to most. Similarly in this book, Zott was not respected because she did not dress or act in the way that a “typical” woman should. Even though times have changed, these unfair beauty...

  Through reading about Nicomachean Ethics for my thesis project, I wanted to reflect on how this can relate to beauty in general. A large part of this is looking at the theory of the unmoved mover. This is the theory that there is a primary cause to everything in the universe. Through my interpretation this is relating to God and how he is the creator of all. Due to this, I began analyzing how beauty is related to this. The unmoved mover talks about how everything is created from something that already exists. If you really boil everything down, there are chemically and spiritually an answer to both of these. After looking at beauty, specifically in nature it made me reflect on how this is representative of God. In my thesis project I used this interpretation to show how everything we think is unique has already been created in some way. However, the beauty in this, is that art can be interpreted in different ways. Our emotions or personal beliefs can reflect different interpretat...

  Through reading certain experts of Plato’s republic, I wanted to reflect and focus on the cave allegory and how it can relate to topics mentioned during class. In terms of this class, the cave allegory can be interpreted in the way of not having any preconceived notions of beauty standards or previous art. In the cave allegory people can only see the shadows, which leaves a large gap of creativity to think of how those shadows can play a role in what we already think. At the time, these people do not know what the shadows represent so they can form their own conclusions about what they think. However, once they are out of the cave, they can finally see for themselves. Now they can determine whether their own interpretations of beauty based on not knowing anything are similar to the actual objects. Through this story it made me realize in the importance of our own imagination. Due to the modern trends of society a lot of the natural creativity is lost because of being constantly i...

After reading a few excerpts from the tallest cloud, I wanted to reflect on some the ideas that I had while reading this interpretation of Anthropocene. The dichotomy between the two pictures used in figure 3 and figure 4 was something i found particularly interesting. Over time i would agree that society has changed, and not necessarily for the better in certain aspects. In this example in particular, I looked at this in the broader sense of how we perceive art. In the first figure depicting Atlas who is holding the world over his head, i noticed that this artwork looks much more simplistic than the other. in the second figure, the image feels more chaotic compared to the oversimplified statue. The meaning behind each figure is also quite interesting to think about. Throughout history it seems as if society has become overwhelmed with the consumerist lifestyle, we all tend to live. However, in the other picture it looks as if life is much simpler, and like people could carry the heavy...

  After hearing and reading about the adventures of those who have gone on the Appalachian trail I find myself incredibly fascinated about this experience. I personally have never taken part of anything of the sort, or even gone on hikes in nature. However, after reading this, my tune has changed. Modern day pilgrimage is quite different than what is used to be, which is commented on throughout the article. During lectures it was also mentioned that people develop “nicknames” for others on the trial and that it is quite common to bond closely with the people seen throughout the trail. Hearing this caused me to analyze this in a broader sense, by looking at the journey of life. We are each on our own journey and come in contact with other people throughout our lifetime that share experiences with us. This interpretation of life while also comparing it to the actual pilgrimage of the Appalachian trail have an intimate aspect in terms of shared experiences. Our own experiences are so ...

  Through listening about rituals vs performance for the assignment, I wanted to additionally reflect on the things I had read about the topic. Throughout my life I have participated in many rituals, some of which I was aware of as being rituals and others not. After I reflected on some of the rituals I have participated in, it brought me back to thinking about the term, “koinonia”. Throughout the reading many religious rituals were mentioned, and during class we watched videos on rituals being performed. To me, watching rituals felt significantly different than physically doing them. Being a part of a sorority involves a lot of sacred rituals that have historical significance. Until I had really thought about it, I could physically feel the “community” sense of these rituals. In a group setting like I was, it was like a spiritual aura that brought us all together in a special way. After reading about rituals and participation, I feel like I was able to recognize this and understan...