Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Should beauty lie in the eye of the beholder?

We are the i-generation!
Where I can either mean impatience or intelligence; integrity or in-difference.
Yes, it can mean many more words which are currently resonating in your mind.
Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard's Almanack, 1741, has aptly put it in words:
"Beauty, like supreme dominion is but supported by opinion".

Interesting thought isn't it?
Imagine if we call a rose something else, would it stop smelling sweet?
If an inherently beautiful object or person is not appreciated for its beauty, will it cease to remain so?  Yet appreciation and applauds play a vital role in our lives. When expectations stand tall with heads high in relationships, they demand nothing but appreciation. We demand a hike at work, because we think our efforts should be appreciated. We try different looks, dress well and do (or at least try to do) all the right things for the person we love, so that they appreciate our presence in their lives. But, treating this appreciation as testimony to persuading self towards attainment of beauty or intelligence is a baseless theory.

It makes absolute sense when
Paulo Coelho, of The Alchemist fame quotes,

“If tomatoes wanted to be melons,
they would look completely ridiculous.
I am always amazed
that so many people are concerned
with wanting to be what they are not;
what’s the point of making you look ridiculous?”

Appreciation definitely helps us to perform better but it should not be the sole reason. Does it make sense if the whole world calls you, stunning, when you treat yourself like a repulsive? 
Think about it...

5 comments:

  1. "Does it make sense if the whole world calls you, stunning, when you treat yourself like a repulsive?" i love how you put this...fantastic!

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  2. "Does it make sense if the whole world calls you, stunning, when you treat yourself like a repulsive?"

    this line maybe true in the novel or the written word...but in real , if u r appreciated and u feel happy about it, u will express it in a fashion were at least more than two people know about it..

    If i have got a hike at my job, or cracked an exam...or got into a fantastic college for further studies (all gradations like "fantastic" being provided by the society) i would definitely announce to the world.

    This holds good only in books that if u cant love what u do then what is the use of doing so much...can u atleast state one example that a person did something so passionately and people praised the person for achieving something and the person admits that he never wanted to do it in the first place... impossible scenario is what u have mentioned...

    all the greats of the world have gone after what they wanted to achieve irrespective of whether the society blames them...or repulses them.. they do it because they want to...and when they succeed they love what they did and they love how they did it...

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    Replies
    1. thats exactly what the blog is saying...opinions will b thr irrespective of what u do, the point of the last sentence is...if we ourselves dont value us, all the good praises in the world dont matter..i think we are leaning towards people suffering from low esteem here..and this is very much a real situation! ..there is nothing impossible that i see here

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  3. Relationships should be built with oneself first than hoping for your Mr/Miss Right to tell you that you are perfect. That doesn't mean that relationships do not help you grow and improve but it should not be a reason to lose yourself for someone else. You can never judge a book by its cover.

    Akku you are an epitome that most of us should learn from. Those who know you well know how confident and strong woman you are.

    Keep writing ...Way to go girl...This is just the beginning.
    :-)

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    Replies
    1. I agree completely with what u say...relationships should help us learn and grow with the person we love.

      Thank you for ur kind words..will definitely come up with something new everytime :)

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