Beauty & the Soul
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Beauty has such a profound affect on the soul. So much of what we find beautiful is closely tied to our identity, such as certain colors, music or visual design - things influenced by our personal taste. And yet, there are things known to be universally beautiful, most of which are found in nature, like a fading sunset, grandiose snow-capped mountains or the vastness of the ocean's swell. Somehow the human soul craves beauty, some perhaps more than others, but we all need it in some form nonetheless. We are all curators of what we find beautiful. We surround ourselves with it. We long for it, desire more and yearn to be swept up in it. We want to posses beauty in a myriad of forms; to be beautiful ourselves, to create beauty, to own beautiful things and to behold beauty in our surroundings, just to name a few.
It is almost certain that most of us would fall into a deep depression if we were deprived of beauty. No music. No art. No nature. No words. No people. If I think back the times I felt most sad, it was because my soul's vision of beauty was somehow hindered or blocked. Whatever it may have been was the opposite of beautiful. And the cure? Finding beauty again. A trip to the seaside. Listening to a song. Reading a few uplifting words. Time with another soul we find soothing. Creating something lovely. Beauty. It's essential to to any sort of glad existence.
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Since I am teaching both my older girls and younger boys, I’ve tried to teach the boys to ask, “Whats’s next, Mommy?” after they finish a project. I need to help them learn not to run off the minute I go help the girls. I’d say they remember 50% of the time. The other 50% they run off and make a mess somewhere in the house, and I have to go find them and show them what’s next.
Spiritually, I’m a lot like my little boys. As I’ve been teaching them to say, “What’s next, Mommy?” throughout the day, He’s been teaching me to ask, “What’s next, Father?” too.