Truth and Beauty

Creative Outlets, Truth, Beauty, True Beauty, God, Saving Grace

This week’s update is prompted by Susan Cain’s post, Can you help me with my book proposal?

In her request, she shares a quote from poet Joseph Massey:

Art, poetry, music, all forms of true beauty, prayer, and meditation—these are the things that will save us as individuals and, if we’re lucky, civilization.

Susan writes, “This idea is a cousin to the thesis of the book proposal I’m writing, and it would really help me, if you agree, to explain WHY you believe this statement is accurate. If you disagree, or aren’t sure, explaining why would be just as helpful. Please feel free to draw on examples from your own life - in fact, these would be especially illuminating.”

PS: If you have ideas of your own to share with Susan, you can provide those in the comments section of her post.

♥︎ JH

I.

Creative Outlets

Art, poetry, music, all forms of true beauty, prayer, and meditation—these are the things that will save us as individuals and, if we’re lucky, civilization.

Joseph Massey (emphasis my own)

According to Massey’s statement, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to save humanity. Unique beings require unique methods of saving. To begin, let’s explore the first three things that may save us—art, poetry, and music.

Our creative outlets are the means by which we release the pent-up creative energy inside us. Another way to release this energy is through addictions and unhealthy coping mechanisms, but if given a conscious choice over how to release our creative energy, most would opt for artistic expression over vicious cycles. But, unfortunately, most people live life unconsciously most of the time (I’m talking through experience here), and that’s why we have so many mental and emotional struggles and not enough art. By choosing creativity, we are making a conscious choice over how we want to expend our energy. And when we’re exceptionally attuned to our intuition, we can better identify which particular creative outlet is a perfect fit for us.

While signing up for pottery or painting classes would be a better expenditure of my creative energy than numbing myself with Facebook or food, I was not uniquely designed to be a potter or painter (as cool as that would be…). Instead, I’ve found that I am supposed to spend much of my creative energy writing. But let me clarify: Writing was not my choice. I wanted to be a corporate executive, a public figure, a Very Important Person. However, when I suppressed my creative instincts to pursue these ego-driven ambitions, I found myself turning to unconscious coping mechanisms to release the energy that should’ve gone into these here ideas. It was only after surrendering to intuition that I (reluctantly) began writing.

What I’ve discovered in embracing my creative calling is that I don’t really know what I think until I write. In other words, I don’t know who I am until I write. I imagine this is how most people feel when they’ve found and pursued their creative calling: through their art, they discover who they really are.

II.

Truth

Art, poetry, music, all forms of true beauty, prayer, and meditation—these are the things that will save us as individuals and, if we’re lucky, civilization.

Joseph Massey (emphasis my own)

When I first read “true beauty,” I instinctively broke it into two ideas: “truth” and “beauty.” So let’s explore both.

There are at least two definitions for “truth.” The more common definition is related to accuracy or fact, while the other refers to a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality. If you’re familiar with my writing, it shouldn’t surprise you that I’d much rather discuss the latter right about now—the capital-T Truth. And, conveniently, this lesser-known definition of truth feels more fitting in this context anyhow.

As an undergraduate, I studied Biomedical Sciences—a degree program housed in the “College of Arts and Sciences.” At the time, I didn’t understand why my academic path was grouped with airy-fairy subjects like philosophy and religious studies. But during my senior year, while dating a musician, I had a strange epiphany: both music and chemistry have a unique language.

In fact, nearly every discipline has its own language, its own system for conveying ideas and truths. Programming languages, medical terminology, legal jargon, mathematics, physics, taxonomic nomenclature, architectural blueprints, technical diagrams, field notes, economic paradigms, philosophical abstractions, psychological models, religious symbols.

But what are all of these fields actually trying to uncover at their very core? What is the ultimate goal of economics, anthropology, fine arts, and engineering? If you ask me, I think all creative and scientific disciplines are working towards explaining the same fundamental Truth; they’re just using their own vernacular and taking their own approach to get there. And I think that the capital-T Truth is that we are creative beings in a creative (and, perhaps, created) universe. And our ultimate goal, both individually and collectively, is to create more beautiful things and reduce disorder in ourselves and the world.

III.

Beauty

In Idea #1, I explored creativity from the creator’s perspective. Now, I’d like to look at it from the observer/experiencer’s perspective.

Pablo Picasso is believed to have said, “Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.” The “unnecessary” in this case is clutter, disorder, excess. Beauty—whether in the form of a pristine painting, a virtuoso verse, or a melodic marvel—exhibits order and harmony and brilliance. When a work of art captures our heart and soul, it’s because we recognize some truth in it. As creative beings, we resonate with beauty because we embody beauty.

But, of course, we have some not-so-beautiful parts, too: inner noise, emotional havoc, somatic imprints. External beauty can alleviate (and maybe even cure) our inner disorder because it reminds us to eliminate the unnecessary within us. When Cheryl Strayed hit rock bottom—impoverished, divorced, addicted to heroin—and hiked the Pacific Crest Trail to reclaim herself, she kept the words of Emily Dickinson close to her heart:

If your Nerve, deny you –

Go above your Nerve –

These words revealed a truth to Strayed: she could eliminate her unnecessary fears and find beauty within herself. There’s an Emily Dickinson poem out there for all of us—a beautiful something that can reveal some hidden truth within us. Be it through art, poetry, music, or something else.

IV.

True Beauty

Because of the varied definitions for truth, using “true” as an adjective can be quite tricky.

For instance, true love suggests a sincere and profound love.

And a true story suggests a factually correct story.

And one’s true colors suggest one’s authentic, essential nature.

And then there’s true beauty—which is a rather perplexing concept if I do say so myself. But good thing there’s AI to tell me what stuff means these days.

When prompted with “What is true beauty?” Claude replies:

This is a profound philosophical question that has been debated across cultures and throughout history. Rather than offering a singular definition, I’d like to explore several perspectives:

In classical philosophy, Plato suggested that true beauty exists as a perfect, unchanging form - an ideal that earthly beautiful things merely reflect. This points to beauty as something transcendent and universal.

Eastern philosophies often locate true beauty in the imperfect and transient - the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi finds beauty in impermanence and incompleteness. Similarly, Zen Buddhism sees beauty in simplicity and naturalness rather than artificial perfection.

From a naturalistic perspective, some argue that our sense of beauty evolved to help us recognize health, fertility, and beneficial environments. This suggests beauty might be fundamentally tied to life-supporting qualities.

Even the AI is stumped—and by “stumped,” I mean that it cannot settle on a single definition. Perhaps that’s because true beauty is subjective; it’s in the eye of the beholder. We all have different interests, we gravitate toward different disciplines, and we have different ways of communicating ideas and truths. I experience true beauty in literature and illustrations. My husband experiences it in engineering and architecture. And we both experience it while skiing in the snow-crowned Sierras.

When it comes to “all forms of true beauty,” it’s worth remembering that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. And, as Plato (and Claude) suggest, all manifestations of true beauty point toward something transcendent and universal.

V.

God

Art, poetry, music, all forms of true beauty, prayer, and meditation—these are the things that will save us as individuals and, if we’re lucky, civilization.

Joseph Massey (emphasis my own)

Perhaps it was the words “prayer” and “meditation” that enticed me to take these 5 Big Ideas in a more ethereal direction. Or maybe it’s the fact that I genuinely believe we are creative beings in a creative—and created—universe. The universe is truly beautiful; it has the precise constants, forces, and conditions necessary to accommodate intelligent life. If the universe were significantly different than it is now, we would not be here now. It’s almost as if this world was anthropically designed for us.

This observation often leads to a cascade of unsolvable questions: Who/What are we? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? What is our purpose? Who/What created the universe? Where do we come from? What happens when we die? What is consciousness? Where do we go when we dream? What is intuition? Where do ideas come from? Are we alone in the universe? Who/What is God? Etc. etc. etc.

And when we ask these questions out loud, people give us the side-eye and pretend that they don’t have the same questions circulating through their minds. But they do.

And I digress.

Why Joseph Massey decided to group “prayer and meditation” with “art, poetry, music,” and “true beauty” is anyone’s guess, but I’d like to think it’s because they all point toward the transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality that is sometimes referred to as Truth. If this is indeed a created universe, then the act of creating (“art, poetry, music”) and the experience of creation (“true beauty”) offer us glimpses into the mysteries of the universe itself. While prayer and meditation offer us an opportunity to commune directly with the source of these mysteries—the creator of the universe. Prayer is speaking to God; meditation is listening for His reply.

This week’s bonus idea is free for all to read. If you find value in these ideas, I’d love it if you shared this publication with a friend or two. Sharing is caring ☺

+I.

Saving Grace

Art, poetry, music, all forms of true beauty, prayer, and meditation—these are the things that will save us as individuals and, if we’re lucky, civilization.

Joseph Massey (emphasis my own)

Before proposing solutions to save individuals and civilization, we must first understand what is destroying them. I think the cause of said destruction can be summed up quite nicely in one word: Disorder.

Inner disorder. Outer disorder.

Many religions posit that the universe operates according to some natural order. Some even assert that a divine creator shaped the universe from pre-existing chaotic matter. Creativity is the means by which we humans create something out of pre-existing matter—we make ceramics from clay, computer chips from silicon, houses from trees, plastic from crude oil, textiles from cotton, steel from iron and carbon. We create things to expend energy, solve problems, and discover who we are.

Emily Dickinson wrote poetry to explore her inner world. Vincent van Gogh painted to save himself. Leonardo da Vinci was driven by an insatiable curiosity about the world around him. Marcus Aurelius penned personal reflections that, unbeknownst to him, would become Meditations. Those who create truly beautiful things often do so primarily for themselves. They receive some kind of metaphysical inspiration and then expend the energy required to manifest it into a physical reality. When we encounter a truly beautiful masterpiece, we say that it “speaks” to us. We don’t quite know how or why this is, but, in a way, it’s reminiscent of prayer and meditation—it’s as if the spiritual inspiration behind the art is trying to tell us something about life’s mysteries through its very creation.

I think it’s safe to say that art, poetry, music, all forms of true beauty, prayer, and meditation have the power to save the individual. By creating things, we bring order to the world around us. Through true beauty, we calm the chaos within. While prayer and meditation connect us to Truth—they are the means by which we access our intuition and answer our unique calling.

But when it comes to civilization writ large, we need a culture that prioritizes true beauty over materialism and inspires individuals to do what they are uniquely designed to do rather than chase money and power. To foster such a culture, we should celebrate those guided by wisdom and intuition, rather than glorifying celebrities who promote hollow values.

Gandhi is often misquoted as saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” But what he actually said is far richer:

We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.

Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Opinion

As we change, we inspire others to change. By seeking Truth and beauty and creativity, we inspire others to do the same. Imagine a society in which everyone finds purpose and fulfillment in their work, everyone collaborates to foster harmony within themselves and the world, and everyone holds love, virtue, and true beauty as the highest ideals. Such a society is possible, but it must be led by example. We can begin by setting an example within ourselves.

We need not wait to see what others do.