What is beauty- the true meaning of beauty

What beauty is and how we discern beauty is a subject that piques the interest of some of the most discerning people in the world. If we could only understand the true meaning of beauty, perhaps we would be able to live lives that are, if we may, beautiful.

This is going to be one of my favorite posts on the blog. I have always wondered about beauty and what beauty is. I have never really sat down to define what beauty means and how should all of us human beings live life so that it feels beautiful. So, let’s do it.

The purpose of this post is to arrive at a definition of beauty or multiple definitions. There is true beauty in this world and we need to find it. There is beauty inside all of us, only if we look for it.

Is beauty only physical?

First of all, beauty is not only physical. Yes, there is physical beauty but it doesn’t mean anything if we feel rotten inside. If beauty is only skin deep, it’s not beautiful enough because it fades quite quickly.

Beauty with brains is a useful definition but beauty with heart has even more depth.

True beauty in people is character deep.

Think about it. When you meet someone physically attractive for the first time, you may want to talk to them. If you are single, you may want to establish a romantic relationship with them. Whether you would want to do it will depend on what you think about them as a person, not just as a body.

Yes, you could have a beautiful body, but that doesn’t mean you are a beautiful person. Beautiful people feel beautiful to others. Can you think of someone you found beautiful as a person over a period of time?

You could only find someone beautiful when you admire, and even love them as people. It is hard not to fall in love with someone you consider beautiful.

But, beauty is not only present in people. Beauty is present across nature and it would be helpful while understanding how to be beautiful, that we understand what beauty means to us.

Let us start with the basics.

What is beauty?

As per the dictionary on google, beauty is a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form, which pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.

Do you agree with this definition?

I partly agree. I don’t think this is a complete definition. A complete definition of beauty would have to define the impact of beauty on us. That’s how we would understand its meaning.

How does beauty make you feel?

The right way to understand what means is by understanding what beauty makes us feel. So, here is the definition.

Beauty is something or someone that moves you.

If beauty is something or someone that moves you emotionally, who or what could be beautiful?

A person

Mother Teresa was beautiful. — Mother Teresa was a beautiful person.

Beauty is hard to achieve as a person. I can’t be sure if anyone would call me beautiful. Certainly, I would aspire to be a beautiful person, but I am not sure if I am one. Have I known someone I would call beautiful?

Yes. I have met a few people who were beautiful in different ways.

Yes, there is physical beauty. There are men and women around the world who have been gifted or have created beautiful bodies. They look attractive, and people around the world want to see them because of their beautiful physique or figure, whatever applies.

However, beauty in people is not physical only since that experience is fleeting. When someone is beautiful as a person, they are loving, caring, and clean of conscience. They make other people feel cared for around them. Everyone speaks highly of them in their absence. A beautiful person makes us want to be beautiful, since they move us.

As I write this, I remember an incident from my childhood. I was playing with a friend of mine and I don’t remember the series of incidents that led to it, but I remember breaking a part of his head with a brick. He bled and left for home. We were neighbors. I came back to my home, scared as a child also. Although, I was scared that his mother would come to our home to complain about me. But, nothing happened.

The next day, he came to my place again to play and had a bandage on his head. He was smiling, and had forgiven me.

His name was Ravi, and Ravi was a beautiful person. I lost him in the course of life, but I have never forgotten him.

Nature- Mountains, beaches, landscapes

Mountains and beaches are beautiful. — Photo by Frans Van Heerden on Pexels.com

Nature is beautiful, replete with beautiful places. There are beautiful mountains, beaches and gorgeous landscapes that move us. That’s the reason we travel to such places beyond the hustle and bustle of life to find peace beyond the chaos and jarring of everyday life.

I have traveled solo for a few years and I remember sitting in front of a beach watching the waves come and dissolve themselves, while reading a book and reflecting on life. I can still do that all day.

Nature’s scenic beauty moves us, and hence it is beautiful.

Books

I am a reader, beyond being a writer and I like reading. There are several times I laugh while reading books. There are a few times I have cried while reading some books because they have moved me so deeply, that I couldn’t stop my tears from flowing.

Great writing moves you. It touches a deep chord in your heart and makes you realize something that you didn’t realize for such a long period of time. It makes you a better person and that’s why I recommend reading as a hobby to everyone I meet.

Books move us emotionally. Not just book, great writing in general is beautiful.

Music

Great music, just like great books moves us. It makes us dance, cry, laugh or a combination of all of these. Music can heal when words are combined with rhythm. Great music can pierce our soul, and so often it does.

I wish I knew how to create music but I don’t, since it is one of the most beautiful gifts we have the honour of perceiving and enjoying.

Music moves us and hence, it is beautiful.

Travel

Although we mentioned natural beauty is beautiful above, the intellectual idea of travel is beyond nature. Why do we travel?

We travel to see and discern the world beyond our own lives. We travel to see the ways of the world. We travel to enjoy the beautiful nature which has been engineered so beautifully, and the engineering is still beyond our grasp.

Travel doesn’t only refresh us beyond our routine, but it also teaches us so many things about the ways of the world, that we wouldn’t otherwise realize.

Travel moves us and so, it is beautiful.

The biology of life

Think about it. Have you ever wondered at the fact that a male and a female of a species mate, and life is born? Have you wondered about that?

If you haven’t, you should. Just think about it. The whole biology of life, where a life is born out of mating of two individuals is just beautiful.

Being in love

I don’t know if you have ever been in love. If you haven’t been, then you are truly missing out on life. Love is one of the most beautiful feelings that we get to feel as human beings.

You may fall in love with a person because that person makes you happy, or you may fall in love with a piece of work, that doesn’t feel like work to you. You enjoy it so much that you would even do it for free.

When you are in love, time flies and life seems worthy and meaningful.

Love changes something in us, when it is working in its essence. It is one of the most beautiful things about life.

Being happy

What is beauty? Happiness is beautiful. If there is a true meaning of beauty, it is in inner happiness. — Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

I had recently wondered how happiness felt like, and the answer is that happiness feels beautiful.

Happiness is the core intended emotional output of life, and a lot of things need to be in place about our lives for us to feel happy. When those things are in place, we feel happy, and it is just plain beautiful to feel happy. When we are happy, we feel like dancing, we want to love and feel loved, we feel accomplished, and we feel meaningful. You are happy, you are content with what you have in life. There is no leakage of emotions.

Happiness moves us, and hence it is one of the most beautiful things about life.

So, we have seen a few things here that move us, in our lives. Let us come back to the original question that we started with.