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Anavysos Kouros, Church ceilings of the world., Living a life of little b beauty., What is beauty?, What is big B Beauty?, What is little b beauty?
A couple of posts ago I came down firmly on the side of little t for scientific truth rather than big T revealed Truth. The reason is simple for me, in that I can go and bring little t truth into my reality with personal experience. Whereas revealed big T Truth is always and forever hidden from me and I am compelled if I am to accept its Truths, to swallow the whole Kool-Aid. I much prefer untainted lemonade, which if I don’t like it, I can spit it out.
Can I apply this same style of judgment to the concepts for beauty? Is there such a thing as big B Beauty and little b beauty? What would be the qualities of big B Beauty? Applying the method above, big B Beauty would be fixed and I would be forced to accept it whole or not at all, and furthermore, there would be some form of punishment for not accepting it exactly as it is presented.
A couple of months ago I Googled beautiful church interiors and (click images and also go to) beautiful church ceilings – and I spent an hour marveling at the beauty and variety of this art form. And yet, as I see it now, it is a “take it or leave it” kind of beauty. It was created as a big B Beauty. In our modern world, we can go visit these Beautiful places without the threat of punishment but it was probably not always so. In their original formal settings, we would be compelled to enter these sacred places with our personal traditions in their proper place and inspected, or we were asked forcefully to leave and be forbidden from participating in the rituals.
What would little b beauty be? The beauties provided by “Mother Nature” come to mind. Sunsets, blue sky transitions, clouds, forest walks, waterfalls, still ponds, and quiet swamps. These we can all view freely without any form of punishment, if there aren’t any mosquitoes. Having been a lifetime people watcher, I would consider the most beautiful things on this planet to be people. The great variety of them and every one of them beautiful when you view them in the environment they have chosen to adapt themselves to.
Is that the core of beauty? Is any being located in an environment where it can thrive – just as it is – the key to its beauty? An hour ago I was looking at “The Anavyssos Kouros” on page 31 of “The Art Book” (which we got on a New Year’s deal for $10). What struck me first about this 530 BCE Greek sculpture was its obvious derivative qualities from classic Egyptian art forms, but when reading the caption it became apparent that this was a grave goods icon sculpture that accompanied a young soldier who died in battle. Is this sculpture’s perfect place for its existence accompanying a dead body of a beautiful young man?
I am presently living in a world of little b beauty and enjoying it very much.