Monday, June 24, 2013

Beauty, Originality, and the Monday Fortune Cookie 6/24/13

Beauty is simply beauty, originality is magical.

SNARKY RESPONSE:  But originality seldom wins the crown in a Beauty Pageant.


Beauty is simply beauty, originality is magical.

(Don't mind me, as I attempt to wax philosophical.
It's one of THOSE fortunes.)

Beauty is as simple or as complex as the beholder deems it.
As simple as a blue sky on a spring day or as complex as a waterspout on the open sea. As simple as a smile offered freely or as complex as a judge's nod at the end of a performance. Beauty is said to be natural, but the popular beauties owe as much to artifice as to nature. Beauty more often falls within specified parameters, is sought through pursuit of a strict regimen, is recognized only when conforming to the stated expectations of the beholder, making Beauty beholden to others.
When Beauty is a purely personal definition, that's when it becomes magical.
Originality is all about personal definition. Originality chooses not to acknowledge the power of standards when seeking something true. It dares to be different, dares to be strange, dares to be ugly to find beauty. Beware, originality is a double-edge sword. One stroke can earn you accolades, another stroke could cut you off at the knees. Dancing along that razor's edge, you have to balance the need to be unique with the drive to be accepted by fostering  independence from the judgement of others. Sometimes, the call of conformity will make you shy away from that precipice, playing up your fear of falling, of failing. Originality pushes right up to the edge, peers over into the unknown and then chooses to use that moment to create something new. Step off. Step back. Step out.
The magic of Originality is the Beauty it creates within the creator.
So here's where I'm gonna leave it. Anybody want to add something of their own to the mix? Please feel free.

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