“A Deeper Definition of Beauty”
There are two uses of the word beauty. The first is the everyday mundane usage, which has become so worn, so hackneyed, that there is little remaining emotional value. Today, almost anything is claimed to be beautiful, whatever its intrinsic value. But there is another meaning of the word, a supra-mundane meaning, which is directly related to its etymology, from the Latin word beatus, meaning “blessed.” For from the same root are derived such words as benediction, beatitude, supreme blessedness. For this higher meaning I designate a capitalized Beauty.
Stillpoint Painting by John Diamond, M.D.
While many works of art are beautiful, very, very few are Beautiful. And the more brush strokes it takes to paint them, the less likely are they to be truly Beautiful – too many ego decisions, far too many, to surrender them all to the dance of the Muse.
When you paint, if you let the Muse come through and manifest Her dance on paper, then your work will be Beautiful. That is all that matters, for then your painting will be a manifestation of the Blessedness – a beatitude. This is what you have created – a manifestation of the Divinity within. Having done so, now look around you and find the Beauty in every person, in every thing, in every event, in every moment.
Excerpt from Stillpoints: An Introductory Guide to Haiku Painting
