In Beauty As Action, I go on about The Way of Beauty. My friend Lou recently asked me, “What the heck do you mean by ‘way’? What’s that about? So here goes:
The ancient Chinese developed Taoism from “Tao,” meaning “path” or “way,” specifically about their ancient studies of the Universe and its ways, or paths — meaning its processes and methods. Taoism is considered to be the Religion of Heaven and Earth, of the Cosmos, the World, and Nature in the broadest sense.
So, Lou — and anyone else who was wondering — it is with that thought tradition in mind that I put forth this Way of Beauty.
The Way of Beauty is about cultivating a daily-living practice of beauty awareness. The reason to do so is rooted in the belief that Beauty — its creation, cultivation, and discovery — is an important and centralizing principle of our universe. Yup. The universe. Not just us humans crawling around on our blue-green pearl, but the entire cosmos.
And I know this might sound outrageous, but physics backs this up. But since I am no physicist, I must approach this on a simpler, day-to-day level – like most of us.
The Way of Beauty is simple. It requires no esoteric tools or objects. To practice, it requires only an attitude and awareness shift. It is something that is done every day, a practice, a habit. And it will affect one’s choices on every level. We can make the idea of beauty a verb, as well as a noun or an adjective.
And the time to practice True Beauty is now. Clearly.
There are some time-honored practices that speak to and support the Way of Beauty. Meditation is one. Being still and present in the midst of our busybusybusy environment is another. Maintaining a healthy physical body (exercise) is yet another. None of these “practices” are new. But their connection with Beauty has been diminished, even forgotten. I am here to remind us. As we go on here, I will tie Beauty theory back into specific Beauty practices. Stay tuned!