tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10774137.post165348940195269025..comments2024-03-14T17:27:00.740-04:00Comments on PAT's ART JOURNAL: Reflections on Beauty + Such...Pat Dolanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11724006295082940515noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10774137.post-74484072675747904992007-01-06T18:35:00.000-05:002007-01-06T18:35:00.000-05:00Hi, Deb -
As usual, you bring up a thought-provok...Hi, Deb -<br /><br />As usual, you bring up a thought-provoking concept... "Is the feeling of beauty located first in the heart (or psyche)?" After considering it for a few days I must admit that I really don't know the "true" or "one/only/holy" answer to your query.<br /><br />Here are my thoughts on your question:<br /><br />Perhaps beauty really is in the mind/heart (eye) of the beholder, as some wise sage said so long ago. I know that when things are looking dark for me, beauty is not easily noticed. Bird watching is one of the most frequent ways I attempt to step beyond over-arching depression, but my mind must first make the choice to look beyond my perceived (or real) darkness.<br /><br />And when I am in a good place/mood, many things appear beautiful to me...<br /><br />Still, in my darkness, I do notice nature, especially in the wildlife that surrounds our home - be they plant, animal or mineral. Watching water, especially moving water, is especially consoling to me in dark times and light times, as well.<br /><br />Is it the beauty that calls out to me from my narrow perspective or is it my spirit touching Spirit and noticing...<br /><br />Is it my mind/psyche that sees or perceives first where beauty is or is it my sensory self that "feels" beauty first?<br /><br />Is it my own emptyness that cries out for beauty or is it my "spark of God" - my own tiny divinity - that sees itself reflected in beauty everywhere?<br /><br />I have more questions than answers, as you can readily note. And they are good for my soul. Thank you.<br /><br />PatPat Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11724006295082940515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10774137.post-1055568904900226622007-01-03T10:28:00.000-05:002007-01-03T10:28:00.000-05:00Pat,
Your commentary/photos bring feelings to the ...Pat,<br />Your commentary/photos bring feelings to the words used to describe beauty. To find an ancestral/familial location and discover feelings/emotions while physically at that location must be wonderous--transcendtal, perhaps. You are fortunate to have that experience!<br /><br />Life has shown me that yes, beauty can be found anywhere; however, is the feeling of beauty located first in the heart?<br /><br />When I lived in Newark, NJ, a place that many dub horrid; I found continual beauty in Frederick Law Olmsted's Branchbrook Park and the Cherry Blossoms, the sun reflecting on the ornate building roofs downtown (yes, a gargolye or two appear!) and always, the birds on the trees lining the subway tracks.<br /><br />Now I reside in a historic northern Jersey area surrounded by architecturally beautiful churches, synagogues, buildings. There are some parks but mostly there is building, continual,since it is a "hot" area to be, for some.<br /><br />I have found a few favorite trees, squirrels, crows and starlings that sing, catbirds, groundhogs and once and a while, a deer. Van Vleck Gardens (highly recommended not only for flora but for meditative space)is a walk away.<br /><br />Still, Pat, if the feeling of beauty is not found somewhere in the heart or psyche, would the places that you document or that I describe be termed "beautiful"? Or is beauty a mental feeling which we understand and then can experience?<br /><br />These are some of my questions after reading your comments. I am now looking quite forward to my long Montclair walk; although studded with buildings and shops, I will find the beauty. It is already in the heart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com