The Necessity Of Beauty

"Always be on the look out for the presence of wonder." E.B. White

In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius writes, “Dwell on the beauty of life.” It seems a simple, a phrase that one could almost dismiss as if it were a mere greeting card message. Yet in this current age with its ominous apocalyptic menace, such contemplation is not only necessary but vital. I believe, as Rachel Carson did, that to contemplate beauty without the desire to own, commoditize, consume or use it up for its vital resources (especially in regards to the earth), we slow down the seeds of destruction from growing. As she writes, “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”

To “dwell on beauty” goes beyond mere thought or momentary consideration of. It is an active focus that goes to the root of our daily existence. It is the contemplation or dwelling in those small moments that make up our lives and finding rich pockets of beauty, joy, wonder, and tenderness.

To dwell means to live in, to remain in. In Middle English it meant to persist. In Greek, it meant to reside, or to settle in. All of these things are more permanent than a brief appreciation of beauty. It means to set oneself there as a way of living.

Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic philosopher and they believed that the practice of virtue (moral, social, intellectual) was enough to achieve Eudaimonia or “the state or condition of a good spirit.” He wrote what we call his Meditations privately and there is nothing in history that shows he ever intended to have them published. In these notes to himself, as he worked out his own personal philosophy, he believed that to dwell on beauty was a way of finding ones place in the universe and understanding that everything comes from nature; thereby everything shall return to it one day. It is holding to this tension of beauty and brevity, of life and death, that helps one focus on that which really matters and gives meaning in those quotidian moments of our daily lives.

During this age of constant media, of an inundation of bleak news that creates an existential feeling of dread, which is overwhelming and exhausting. It becomes too easy to gaze to long into the darkness and believe that that is all there is. Yet if we “dwell on the beauty of life” we remind ourselves not only that there is more than the darkness but also a way to combat the darkness. We realize that beauty is worth fighting for.

In our modern culture we lose sight of this. We become anxious, depressed and alienated even as we have more and more forms of instant communication we find ourselves with less and less real connections. Our politics are polarized and create deep divides. There is a rise of racism, xenophobia, hatred, and discrimination. There is a rise in violence and conflict. Human existence is such a fragile thing. The fragility can often lead us to fear but I think what it is meant to do is remind us of how we are all connected and that if we remember our connection to each other, we will be less likely to strive towards destruction.

That is why we must plant gardens, paint, write, create in all forms to combat the chaos and the confusion by bringing meaning through beauty. We must strive to find and make those human connections, deep and beautiful as they can be when we discover that we are not alone in how we think, feel and experience this often overwhelming world.

May we all, in this dire moment, dwell on beauty as if our existence depends on it because it does, it always does.