Multiplicity of Beauty

I have seen many beauties, and for the same amount of time I have pondered about each one — about how not one beauty is the same.

There are some kinds of beauty that greet you boldly — like a loud knock on the door in a silent afternoon. Or the blue of Crater Lake during bright summer days. The kind that is easily distinguishable, and is not afraid to look straight into your eyes just to see their own reflection in your stupefied expression.

Then there are some kinds of beauty that make you wonder if embraces, if beds of clouds were possible. the kind that reminds you of warm, soft sweater; of fur coats in hazy winter.

Then there are beauties that come bearing a sense of relief. The kind that reminds you of cold beers during humid autumn nights; the kind that reassures you of exhaling.

Then there are beauties that resemble a warm cup of coffee right before dawn, or old photo albums in your childhood home. Beauties that come with a sense of familiarity of a pleasant memory.

There are beauties that are simple and precise — a clear existence that is easy to describe without any flowery metaphor. And there are beauties that are intricate, sophisticated in nature. Like a classical artwork, or a grand centrepiece perched inside a kirk.

There are beauties that are bright, explosive, that would make you wonder if somehow you’ve bagged sunshine into a form. Then there are beauties that remind you of a lone star, blinking dimly with a tinge of melancholy in its lonesome beauty.

And once in a while, you’ll encounter the kind of beauty that is indescribable with words. Your sight, your touch, and your memory have made sense into what makes such beauty, but your mind is yet able to put words into the riddle. Because some beauties are subtle, some beauties are bold, and some just the right amount of both.

Some beauties comfort you, some others challenge you, and other particularly annoying some seek to break you.

In a world of so many different kinds of beauty, must you, really, box yourself into a definite category?