Is beauty necessary?
[Author’s note: This is the next in a series of writing challenges first proposed to me by Leslie Farnsworth. Leslie has organized and expanded the challenge to include a larger group of excellent blog writers. Once per month, one member of the group will propose a topic and we will all give our own unique take on the subject. This latest installment was proposed by Rebecca Harvey. You may want to look at the other bloggers listed below to see what they came up with:]
- Leslie Farnsworth: http://www.lesliefarnsworth.com/
- Joan Johnson: http://onefishtaco.blogspot.com/
- Rebecca Harvey: http://bayoucitypostcards.blogspot.com/
- James McPherson: http://jalmcpherson.com/
- Jenna Sauber: http://jennasauber.com/
- Jon Lundell: http://therealmil.blogspot.com/
My thinking on this topic began with meditating on the topic of beauty itself. Why does it exist in the first place? Why are some things beautiful and some things ugly and how do we make the distinction?
We all have our preferences in life. No matter what the subject is, no matter how public or personal, we know what we like and what we don’t like. Generally these things have to do with the more basic and primal aspects of our being. Those aspects that determine our survival.
Throughout evolution the beauty aspect has helped the individual find that member of the opposite gender that presented the best possible chance that one’s offspring would not only survive but prosper. As environmental conditions change or a species moves into a new territory sometimes the requirements for surviving changes and beauty standards may change as well. As a tangent line of thought, this may also be where fashion originates, but that’s something to think about another day.
For humans and our immediate predecessors, beauty standards dictated that our potential mates be in generally good physical condition, be larger than other potential mates, and have some advantageous adaptation to the local environment.
Of course this standard varied from situation to situation and from time to time. Cultural norms have come to play a huge role in what we consider to be beautiful. Some cultures will accentuate or even exaggerate some body part that is considered desirable. Those cultures would use clothing, make up, or body modification to achieve the desired look. These practices can of course be carried to extremes. In certain cultures around the world being fat and having poor or no teeth was considered beautiful as it meant that the particular individual had access to excess food supplies and in particular access to sugar which for a very long time was a luxury food item. Even though having poor dental hygiene is in fact a sign of bad health the practice continued on until the improvement of economic situations in these cultures made this a less desirable beauty trait.
As I said previously culture plays a big role in what we consider to be beautiful. Wealth is an aspect of culture that can dictate how we or other people live their lives. Whether we measure wealth by number of farm animals we own, or land we control, or pieces of paper we have in a bank. Money represents power and power has always been beautiful whether we like it or not.
But do we still need the old beauty standards of good health and attractive features? In the urban situation where most humans live, where we no longer have to hunt for food or run away from predators or scavenge and go hungry for weeks or months at a time and where physique is no longer as important, is it still valid to judge others with those old beauty standards? Surely if you are searching for a potential mate and you take into consideration their ability to earn wealth then a potential mate is to be judged by their ability to think, plan, and create content and thus participate in the idea economy rather than by their physical development and their ability to chop wood, or plow a field, or hunt.
That would be true in an ideal world but one thing we have begun to discover is that this human built environment has its own challenges. Sedentary lifestyles now represent the largest danger to those living in cities. We have access to too much food and little need to exert ourselves as vigorously as we once did. Heart disease, diabetes, and cancers are the biggest killers of all these days. Diseases that were previously kept in check by harder and more physical lifestyles. Those individuals that work out and keep fit are still considered beautiful as they seem to reject the sedentary lifestyles that lead to these diseases.
A secondary consideration relating to our new economy is that you may have the best ideas in the world but if you can’t convey those ideas to large groups of other people then your idea won’t be successful. As our means of communications are becoming more and more visual and as our minds respond better to beautiful things, even if just sub-consciously, then we turn again to the old beauty standards. We trust the beautiful, we listen to the beautiful, we envy the beautiful. The ugly, not so much. One famous example was the Kennedy-Nixon debate. Those that listened to the event on radio gave the debate to Nixon as the more persuasive speaker but the vast majority of the population that saw the event on TV gave the debate to the younger and more attractive Kennedy.
So is beauty necessary? I wouldn’t call it necessary as I would call it a factor to be aware of and something to take into consideration. I think we have to be aware that beauty does play a factor in our lives however much we may eschew this and even think this a banal consideration it does exist and does have the power to alter our decision-making process.
responding to blogs
I probably spend way too much time reading other blogs.
It’s fascinating to see how other people think and I find it special that they’re willing to share those thoughts in a forum where not just they or their friends and family can read but where perfect strangers can come in and read and respond to the writer.
The comment section is where readers can come in and interact with the writer and maybe extend the conversation in ways that not even they thought about. I think it’s a duty of the reader to respond in a meaningful way.
Don’ts
1. The “me too” response. Like buttons and favorite buttons exist for a reason. Use them. Don’t just parrot what some other reader has already responded with.
2. The grandma or bro response. I really hate one sentence or one phrase responses. They’re the equivalent of grandma’s “that’s nice, dearie” or a bro-dude saying “cool story, bro”. Not just meaningless but downright condescending.
3. The secondary blog. Something I’m guilty of myself. Take a look at your response. If it’s longer than the original post then you should probably should make a blog of your own on your own blog and link it to this other person. Just rude to steal the spotlight.
4. Straying off topic. Happy that you’ve had life experience but if it has nothing to do with the topic then it’s meaningless.
Do’s
1. Add something to the dialogue. Think of this as you having a discussion with the blog writer. Exchange ideas, make this an interactive experience.
2. Really try to listen. Ingest what they’re saying before responding. Read it over a few times and let it sit for a day or two if necessary.
3. Don’t be shy about maybe being wrong. You’re here to learn after all.
Responding to blogs should be something that you enjoy and that benefits you. More importantly it’s a way to reach out to another person and to start-up a really meaningful conversation.
the process
I don’t really have a systematic approach to writing this blog. I mean I do but it rarely applies.
Sometimes I get super inspired and I have four or five blogs lined up and I have to reshuffle them in order to publish them in the sequence that I consider will be best. Other times I’m sitting around twiddling my thumbs thinking and looking for something to write.
Inspiration can come from current events, discussions I’ve had, other blogs I’ve read, or sometimes they’re topics that I’ve wanted to write for ages but either didn’t have the inspiration or opportunity.
I try to set aside a couple of hours per night to write this or other pieces that I’m working on but it doesn’t always work out that way. I sometimes have to grab whatever free moment I have to get down a few words here or there or maybe just scribble an idea. One of the reasons I like pen and paper notes as opposed to digital note taking is that it still feels more natural to me when getting ideas. I don’t want to be flipping through apps to find my note taking app and then deal with auto-correct. I just want to write and go.
So assuming I have an idea I will then start to flesh out the post. I will just spew out any and every thought I have about it until there’s nothing left. All of this will look disjointed, rambling, confused, and sometimes even contradictory.
That’s when the editing process begins.
Or rather that’s where I set this aside for a bit and come back to it. If you immediately edit anything you will miss many tiny details that you might find if you just let it sit for a while. Approach editing your work as if you were a stranger.
Here’s where the cut down process begins. Whole paragraphs get taken out, some are moved, more material is added. I go through three or four different titles. A new feature that I have recently begun to include in the blogs is multimedia, pictures, videos, and hyperlinks. Makes the article a little bit more interesting but I try to keep it to a minimum. Writing should be about the writing after all.
As far as length goes I have had to train myself to become more wordy. I used to believe in the power of brevity but one of the things I have learned is that more can be better. I have to stop assuming that my readers will “get” what I mean and explain it a bit. I don’t want to talk down to people and explain every little thing but I do have to be a little more verbose.
Finally after a bunch of rewrites, sometimes as many as 13 edits, I have to let go and publish. That’s sometimes hard for a writer to do. Sending it off to be consumed by the public can sometimes be a nerve-wracking process. Specially if it’s a topic you really care about. You never know how well you did and whether people will commend you, criticize you, or just ignore you.
This little blog habit has helped me immensely as a writer. I find it instills a writing discipline and it lets me practice with different styles of writing. Just like exercise you get better a little bit each time. I have compared samples of my writing from the 90’s to today and I already see a vast difference.
Hopefully in time this will lead to something better and even maybe publishable.
Enter title here
Sometimes finding topics to write about gets to me. Trying to cover things that I haven’t covered before. Getting an idea and seeing I did it last year or thinking that I hadn’t expressed a thought and seeing that I really had.
Then on top of that, life tosses me the occasional curve ball. Some project at work eats up all my time, or some domestic crisis erupts and not only do I not have the time to write but I can’t stop to think and to come up with new ideas.
You lose the urge to write or you start churning out substandard stuff. What to do? Could always wake up early or go to bed late and try to make time to write. But that type of writing usually results in substandard material.
Really the only thing to do is to forgive yourself for the occasional lapse. Take that extra weight off your shoulders and get on with the more pressing matters.
You will write again. You really will. But this time, this one time let it go.
It’s not the beginning of a downward slide or the end of the world. Like all of life, writing is cyclical. You have your good and bad times. Some weeks you have tons of ideas and you line them up for publication and can’t wait to release them. This time it just happens that you have no ideas.
Learn to live with it.
The Leibster Award
Leslie Farnsworth writes one of the best blogs on the web. I have had the pleasure of reading her articles for the past year and she always comes up with interesting topics and never skimps on the writing no matter how rough her work week gets or if she’s not particularly motivated to write. If you don’t read another blog on the web you should seriously read hers.
Anyways, a couple of days ago she received The Leibster Award for blogging. This is a sort of informal award to encourage blog writing and blog reading. It’s a wonderful concept. As part of the award she had to give the award to five other blogs that she considers worthy of this honor and she decided to honor me with this award.
The other requirements of the award are:
- Link the person that gave you the award
- Answer the eleven questions she gives me
- List eleven personal facts
- Give the award to five other bloggers who have small blogs
- Ask those five bloggers eleven questions.
So, here we go. Firstly five bloggers I think should receive this award. Honestly I would give this to Leslie as well but then we would be going round and round in a circle. So with the understanding that I esteem her blog, in no particular order.
Shaun Terry
shaunterrywriter.wordpress.com
Terri Schlather
a girl in the south
www.agirlinthesouth.com
Bill Dollings
geomusings
http://blog.geomusings.com/
libertarian standard
http://libertarianstandard.com/
Danielle Eckhardt
http://deartworks.blogspot.com/
Leslie’s questions to me.
What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it?
“World’s End” by T.C. Boyle. Very apt book as I was just in the Hudson Valley
Out of all current events, which most sparks your imagination or passion? Why?
The government shutdown that recently ended. This angered me as it illustrated the total dysfunction of our government not just by the party in power but by all involved.
If you could recommend only one activity from your last vacation, which would you choose? Why?
Rock climbing. This stretched me past my preconceived limits and reminded me that I can still achieve more than I have already.
Pick your weather poison: Bitingly cold or swelteringly muggy?
Neither particularly appeals to me or fills me with dread. I figure that the weather is always too cold, too hot, too wet, too dry. Best to pay no mind to it.
Finish this sentence: “She walked up to the information desk,”
“…and asked me to dance. I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said Lola.”
What’s your favorite news source?
Reuters. I find that it has the least bias and focuses on facts more than any other news service with the possible exception of the BBC.
What is the best advice your mother ever gave you?
“Don’t eat like the mules are waiting for you at the door”…. Her father was a muleskinner
If you were a cookie, what kind would you be?
Something chewy and fresh from the oven, Oh, and with icing!
Name the best place you’ve lived. Why do you consider it the best?
I complain about it (sometimes a lot) but despite it all I love Houston. This is a city with a youthful vitality and energy yet it’s beginning to take on a well-worn patina that has a friendly warm glow. I can’t wait to see what it will do in the future.
Share the recipe for the best dish you cook.
Cranberry-raspberry chutney. Boil a full bag of cranberries till soft. Add a cup of sugar, half a box of raspberries and dissolved plain gelatin. Boil again and add sweet muscatel wine. Thoroughly mix and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool in the fridge.
What was your last simple pleasure?
Sitting in an empty forest field and watching leaves fall for about an hour.
11 facts about me
- I am able to pick up objects with my toes and to some extent write with them.
- Every morning I go through an elaborate stretching routine and pop the bones in my arms.
- I have only broken one bone in my entire life. A finger bone.
- Dogs used to terrify me.
- Omens and symbols hold special significance to me.
- I’m a movie snob. I hate the new Star Wars and Star Trek films.
- I’m a jack of all trades. I can do most anything but not particularly well.
- I was raised in a very conservative family but have become more and more libertarian over the years.
- I was very accident prone when I was younger. I have nearly drowned (twice), had acid splashed on me, been poisoned (twice), had a horse roll over me, been electrocuted, been nearly stung by a scorpion as an infant, and nearly choked to death.
- I love sushi yet I hate cod-fish.
- I met my first “girlfriend” at age six.
My eleven questions for my honorees:
- How often do you think about writing or blogging?
- What is one thing that you wish that you could change everyone’s mind about?
- If you have or had kids what would you like your kids to study or learn most of all?
- Name your favorite TV series?
- What is your most decadent guilty pleasure as far as foods go?
- How do you think that your peers see you?
- What is your favorite holiday or time of year?
- Are you doing the thing that you love? If not, why?
- Who was the last person that you smiled at?
- Are you optimistic about the future or pessimistic?
- Where would you like to retire?
I hope that you enjoyed this post and that you take the time to answer these questions and pass them on to your favorite bloggers.
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