beauty in the simple

In my senior English class, I remember my teacher, Mrs. Smith, reciting a passage from a book in fluent Middle English. The words were twisted and brash and simple and beautiful. Each syllable that escaped housed a mystery of literary beauty that its creator had intended to reach an eager audience. Even though I didn't know what she was saying, I could sense the purity that the phrases were meant to relay.

It seems today, with our influx of technology and information, we are so caught up in getting all of our messages parsed down into thesis statements or lists, we fail to see the mysterious allure that art and words should hold. Before the world bathed itself in instantaneous media, the theater and readings carried weight. Our hearts could be captured by a poem or by the brush strokes of an artist. When you take the art and beauty out of message, then it becomes cold and calculating, and no one can embrace that.

I guess what I'm going for with this is that we need to see the beauty in the simple things. If you don't find your beliefs or ideals beautiful, then have you callously made a formula of your passion? Have you condensed that which used to drive you into a system?

I imagine the audience that originally heard the story my teacher read, must have celebrated or sat in quiet contemplation. Someone conveyed their passion, and others eagerly and openly waited to hear what they had to say. If we honestly found beauty in passion, we might take each others words to heart as well.

Frequently, I will go to the movies by myself. I'm not doing it to be pathetic or creepy, I go so that I can allow a story to reach me. When you sit with others at a movie, it is easier to get distracted. I know Hollywood might not be serving up unbridled passion these days, but sometimes, beneath all the 3D and CGI, there exists a story or imagery that someone sweated over and put themselves into.

As a writer and an artist, you have to share yourself, insecurities and all, to paint the truest picture of your soul. And all of our souls have a beautiful message to relay, it just takes someone who will look past the cobwebs and flash to see what we really mean.

In all honesty, beauty is as simple as the next breath you take.

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