Momentary respite from politics

androkles recently asked readers of his LJ:

What do you think is beautiful? Tell me.

I've been mulling over an answer to him, but I'm finding it very difficult to talk about beauty in a satisfying way. Many times, I've been struck by the loveliness of something and considered sharing that experience here, but I couldn't think of a way to do it that didn't sound sappy, babbly, or otherwise moronic. I love language, but it distorts and obscures more than it reveals; some things really aren't communicated well by it. For that reason, I often envy androkles and bitterlawngnome, who can present these moments visually.

Some people responded to the question with lists, but that doesn't work for me. As caitalainn put it, "nearly anything, aside from hatred, can be beautiful if you're open to it." Why do some things strike me that way at certain times and other things--or even the selfsame things at other times--don't? A lot can be explained by my emotional state at the time; sometimes, I'm just not open to appreciating beauty. But I'm always looking for patterns and I like to think that there are at least one or two aesthetic principles I could abstract out of all these moments of appreciation.

monshu once expressed to me that two important principles of the Japanese Buddhist aesthetic are "impermenence" and "patina". (He used Japanese terms, but, the more I've read about them, the less sure I am that these translations do them justice.) There is something about the fleeting nature of certain forms of beauty that heightens the pleasure in experiencing them. Nature furnishes a lot of the best examples. The first thunderstorm, the first snow, the last moments of St. Martin's summer warmth, the full foliage of summer, the bare branches of winter--all of these would lose some of their allure if they were constantly around. It's partly why I like living in a temperate zone. I've often thought how proper it is that sunsets are so transient, since otherwise how could you not stare at them forever?

"Patina" is a bit harder to explain. It's why a rusty manhole cover is more interesting to look at than a brand new one, why a rounded river pebble is more appealing than a chunk of concrete, why Scots is infinitely more attractive than Esperanto. Perhaps I should weigh in on this another time. (I've already gone on long enough to ensure that spookyfruit will never read this.)