Beauty | The Imperfections and Mystery of the Unknowing by Coach Clint Facey

Beauty…! Ahh, what a delight! To simple revel in beauty’s mysterious magnetism and wonder to the heart.

When was the last time we humans celebrated beauty like we do science? When did newspapers and gazettes ‘front page’ a creation of beauty and celebrate it? How many times have we analysed a piece of art and studied it incessantly for clarity and wonder? To make sense of our lives?

These days with so many measuring devices (and devices in our hands) looking for that 1mm progress, we forgot art. We forgot the skill of daydreaming and appreciating art in favour of science or progress or profit… We have glorified the scientist, the expert analyser and the data wrangler. We put them on pedestals and we turned our cheek to beauty. Because we need to measure how much money we’re making, how much a tumour grows or shrinks, how many grams of fat per smoothie for optimal blah blah blah…

I think Beauty is as real as Gravity! A law of the universe that can’t be measured. A concept that philosophers, poets, musicians and writers have tried to articulate for centuries. But oh wait…there are some that try and do, and turn it into an algorithm. A scientific formula that “proves” beauty. 

But that leaves no mystery left, does it? That takes away the unknowing. The desire to desperately want to know, but no actually ever finding out. Think about this. You are watching a magician do their magic and a trick leave you bewildered, lost and dumbfounded. You have idea how on earth they’ve deceived you and the audience. It leaves you in wonder, curiosity and excitement! Ah, what a delight!! But have you made the mistake of finding out how a magician’s trick was done? You “just had to know”. The disappointment was real. The mystery was gone. The beauty was taken from you… Robert R Jackson said – “It is essential to believe in magic, as long as you do not rely on it“. 

Alas, beauty is not an algorithm. It is not a set of formulas or mathematical equations written in a textbook. Otherwise it would be easy to complete. But in fact, art and beauty is never correct or right. If it did, it would cease because it would be done. Art is never perfect, that is why artists attempt to improve their art constantly. 

Take Picasso for example, who said “To finish a painting? What nonsense…“. An artist is never complete and satisfied. They need to improve it all! It is in their blood. It is in our blood. In the artist within each of us. And here lies the problem with modern society. We attempt to have it all imperfect. We thrust our time, money and energy on something to make it perfect and forget the beauty. 

Over time, we forgot the art. We turned our attention to the artist, not the art. The insta-influencers, the reality TV show “15 mins of fame” person who hasn’t desperately created anything except the desire to be famous. So where has that left us? Consuming… Consuming what is spat out before us like crumbs off the table and we don’t sit still long enough to contemplate the beauty. 

Here’s a theory of mine. We fall in love (beauty) with one’s imperfections, their nuances, their quirks. Not their perfection. How do I say this..? What do you miss the most when your loved one is gone? Is it their perfect smile? The perfect hair? Their immaculate dress sense? No… It’s their weird way they tie their shoes, their insane ability to turn everything into a joke, the way they snort when they laugh…

So sit in beauty. Devour it like Newton studied Gravity, when that apple fell on his head. We can always focus on the science of achieving and measuring later. We can help with science and reversing disease, but we must sit in and contemplate beauty as well. To allow the daydreaming to take over once more like a child does, and wonder with the universe of how it all comes together like a picture that is note quite finished. When we do, we expand it. We magnify its Gravity and once again, validate our lives and life becomes worth it even more. 

So what does that mean for you in action? Nothing! You don’t have to DO anything… But if one must, then one could sit on the end of your bed each morning and before you rush off to your day. Sit and just contemplate your day. What delights will you discover or be witness to? How can you be open to everything and nothing at the same time? Pondering it all with no answers as your quest. 

P.S. Here is another quote I feel is relevant for today’s blog.