Beauty

Is art supposed to be beautiful? I think of beauty when I think of art, but also, I wonder if something sad or tragic or imperfect can be beautiful.

 

Some of the best musicians, for instance, really have some not-so-pretty voices (Neil Young for example, Bob Dylan...). Some of the most beautiful people have a mole on their face or a strange nose, or whatever. Some of the most powerful fiction or movies are based in tragedy.You know what I mean?

 

It seems to me that some plastic surgeons have the idea that they are creating something more beautiful with their scalpel. However, I think what they are doing, is stripping away the chance for beauty. Maybe they come closer to some ideal of perfection, but perfection is not beauty.

 

I am reminded of my own, and other's, imperfections. I used to have this tiny, annoying (to me) bump underneath my nose. I hated it, and the doctor agreed to remove it (I actually had to go into the hospital for this) because it changed size (not a good thing I guess). After I had it removed, my boyfriend at the time lamented that he liked that little bump. It made me, well, me. He missed it. Sweet of him actually.

 

Another boyfriend, quite a bit younger than me (25 to my 37), remarked one night as we sat blabbing, that he loved the little gap in between two of my teeth. I cringed and closed my mouth. I HATE that gap. Absolutely hate it. He said this "I love this gap. This space-- it makes you perfect!" It was such a sweet remark, and coming from a man so young--it was surprising. I understood what he meant.

 

Y has two moles--one on his nose and one on his cheek. I absolutely love those little marks. If they were ever removed, he wouldn't be HIM. I could go on, about the people I love and what makes them unique, what makes them beautiful, and in their imperfection, perfect.

 

Beauty is not Barbie Doll skinny or Ken's muscular arms. It's the humaness of us, the imperfection. The belly and moles and different colored eyes (yes, I have an absolutely gorgeous friend with two different colored eyes). It's not about being resculpted. The body is the outside packaging to our inner core---which is what we end up loving about someone in the end---if it's real love.

 

This has all been said before, of course, but I was just thinking of these things today.