Stealing Beauty

Stealing Beauty

by: Stephanie Andrews

“Looking at beauty in the world is the first step in purifying the mind.” – Amit Ray

What is beauty anyway?  Is it even important?  Is it a shallow concept?  If it is different for everyone, does real beauty even exist?   Are these questions too deep for a Friday in September?

As interior designers, we strive to create a sense of beauty in every space we design.  At BD, our approach involves understanding the individual who lives in the space—their priorities, hopes, and day-to-day life — and trying to find threads to connect that person to their home.   I don’t believe that perfect beauty exists; however, beauty that is perfect for a particular person is our quest.

For as long as I can remember, I have felt this deep connection with beauty. However, beauty often gets a bad rap.  As a concept, it is usually correlated with a person’s physical traits.   That type of beauty, that “eye of the beholder” and “skin deep” type of beauty, is not what I am talking about here.  My beauty is a visual feast that is seen typically in nature, art, handcrafted items, and natural materials. That beauty gets my heart beating faster.

Yet I wanted to explore beauty through my other senses, to steal beauty from different sources instead of just my overused eyes.  As I began to think about my other senses—taste, touch, smell, and hearing—I started to cultivate an even deeper relationship with the beauty of the world.

So I know that you cannot close your eyes while reading this blog, but imagine not using your eyes to experience these pathways to authentic beauty.

How do I taste beauty?  Hmm…so many delicious tastes of beauty.  Like when I  try a gourmet chef’s cuisine for the first time and it just melts in my mouth.  Somehow, I have never tasted that particular combination in that specific way, but it is just a mesmerizing beauty that I want to linger longer.  Or the simplicity of fresh berries and whipped cream, asparagus picked fresh from the garden with butter and lemon, or the cool freshness of iced lemonade-so many examples of exquisite beauty.

How about smell?  Easy beauty is fresh bread or chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven.  A more nuanced beauty is found in taking deep breaths while walking along the ocean at night. The smell of rain coming right before the downpour,  or the smell of a campfire, as we are making s’mores! One more-the scent of someone that I love when we are snuggled up together.

Smells evoke both pleasant and unpleasant sensations, but beauty can be discovered through the sense of smell alone.

On to touching beauty.  This one is fun-the feel of the cool breeze in September after a hot and humid August.  The feel of linen sheets on my legs as I slide in.  The feel of sand between my toes on my beloved beach vacation.  Holding hands with someone special and petting the head of our sweet fur babies.  This is just the beginning of beauty through touch.

Finally, how do I hear beauty?  One of my favorites is that I fall asleep to the sound of a wave machine.  That does not sound beautiful, but like Pavlov’s dog, the waves signal the ocean and time for rest, which is true beauty. Obviously, when I hear the actual ocean through an open window as I drift off to sleep, that is quintessential beauty!  Other auditory sources include birds at the break of dawn, an outdoor busker with so much talent that I have my own private concert, a choir at Christmas, listening to my favorite artist on repeat, and even the frogs at dusk with their deep, baritone croaks.

This blog does not have the beautiful pictures that I am used to sharing.  This one is about your other senses, and I don’t want to clutter the page, visually.  Simply pondering the smell, taste, hearing, and touch of beauty.  I would love to learn your beauty triggers, and we can make a long list together.  When we are deeply immersed in our senses, thoughts of the past and future fade away.  Living in the present beauty is a good way to live!

Until next week,

Stephanie