by the way, when you get past how something or someone looks… you can really see something amazing in that thing/person and that knowledge makes you see the beauty in that thing/person! i’ve experienced this myself on several occasions.

CJ: Now worries, sulz. It was a great post - I couldn’t not link to it!
And I know the feeling too. It’s sort of transcendent, like you’re connecting with something on a level you don’t quite understand… and once you’ve felt it, you know that everything else isn’t as important. Maybe that’s what real beauty is, that connection.

CJ: LOL, I do seem to have that affect on people, though usually for different reasons! Seriously, though, I’m very grateful for your thoughts, Muse; and I’m not normally as melancholic as this - give me a day or two and I’ll be back to normal.
My view probably isn’t as bad as I made it seem; there a few more trees and there are certainly worse things to look upon. I’d just hate to think that this would be the future, that cities would become more industrial, and to see real nature and beauty you’d have to leave the city. But on the other hand cities are so large that there’ll always be someone who cares and wants to preserve beauty, either natural beauty or art; so I doubt we’d ever truly lose it.

I’ve always been fascinated by the Navajo and that seems like such a beautiful outlook; that because beauty is inside everything, it’s your choice, your path to see it. I think the Aborigines here have a similar outlook going back to their Dreamtime. That’s the path I’d like to follow; not so much enlightenment, but acceptance… perhaps as you grow as a person, you find the path you want to walk. I guess I’ve just got some more searching to do first.

I’ve never been someone who buys into the whole idea of image; I’m not going to say I don’t care how a person looks, but that’s not everything. I care more about personality and if the person is interesting than their looks or if they’ve got the latest iPod. I think at heart most people would say the same thing. But we still cling to this modern ideal of beauty just the same.

that is exactly how i feel sometimes! i hate that i preach ‘inner not outer beauty’ but at the same time how something or someone looks still affects how i feel about it at moments.

and ditto timethief.

CJ: Yeah, I feel just the same way. I hate it that I say I try to see the real person, but still the first thing I notice is their hair or something like that. I guess we’ve all been conditioned like that, so it’s our first instinct; it’s if you can look past that and I think on the whole we can.
Thanks for checking the link. I think it’s fixed now. My bad.

CJ: Thanks TT. I was trying to avoid a pingback and mustn’t have entered the address properly. Should be fixed now.