Beauty rests in the eye of the beholder,... and it is a package deal -- a two for one special. For example, if we love beauty we'll hate ugliness; if we love goodness, we'll hate the badness. From a Taoist point of view, Nature is neither good or bad, ugly or beautiful. Thus, if we desire to experience nature on its terms, we need only use the light, but give up the discernment of beauty, ugly, high, low, difficult, easy, good, bad, and so on. Give up discernment? Well, if we can't give it up, at least give up the belief in what we discern. And if we can't give up the belief, at least be more tentative, hesitant and murky about it all. And if we can't be more tentative? No worries, time will take care of that! (i.e., if you would have a thing shrink, you must first stretch it.)

While Andy understands this in principle, he says he prefers to love the beauty and suffer through the ugly. Basically then, beauty equals what we prefer -- what we prefer equals beauty, as Andy illustrates. Moreover, our naturally self centric outlook will convince us that the beauty we 'see' is true 'objective' beauty in its own right. This makes it all the more difficult to give up. I am awed by the hoodwinking power of this illusion - 'my way is the true way'. I imagine this gets its energy from the tribal instinct, i.e., 'our way is the true way'.

Even as he realizes the unintended consequences of 'seeing' beauty, Andy doesn't want to let go of the 'beauty experience'. Not that he could choose impartiality even if he decided to. (You know, good old free will and the illusion of choice that goes along with that.) Nor should he!

The only important thing, for sanity's sake, is to understand. Then perhaps one can gracefully accept the inevitable tradeoff. Although, our 'wanting to have our cake and eat it too' usually makes even this acceptance difficult. Perhaps life experience must first convince each of us personally that we can't have it both ways. In truth, we myriad creatures must all pay our way. No free passes ever, despite our fantasies to the contrary. Ah, but hope instinctively springs eternal doesn't it.

I went to Death Valley the last weekend in January on my motorcycle. There were times I was nearly moved to tears by what I was seeing; along the way and while I was there.

I get that way about this world we live in. It inspires me. It moves me. I enjoy some of my man-made conveniences, expecially when they get me out into nature. But, to me it is all inspiring: the tree and the rock, the green grass and the brown grass, the mountain and the valley. Maybe I would say it is beautiful.

But then I went to San Francisco a year ago (a place I might have said was ugly a few years ago) and I saw beauty in the clean streets and the dingy dirty streets, the tall buildings and the short buildings, in the quiet streets and the busy streets.

I think when you are enjoying life and inspired by what you are up to, any where you are seems beautiful. When you are not, any were you are seems ugly.

Lynn Cornish:

What would be better

Appreciation for everything?