More Beauty Lists

Thanks all!

Philippa’s List

Mary’s list (my godmother) —

Here’s some of my “beauty” list (not in any particular order):

THINGS I FIND BEAUTIFUL AND/OR INSPIRING:

-the sea -mountains -sunrise illuminating my icons -the Divine Liturgy -Holy Week, especially the Bridegroom Service -Great and Holy Saturday Liturgy of St. Basil -some iconography -strawberries -Bach and certain other types of music -the human body and how it works -colors, especially red -children of all ages -some elderly people that just inspire me by how they “are” -stillness/solitude -a peaceful, clean home -the smells of incense, coffee, and pines (separately :)) -a starlit sky without the intrusion of city lights/noise -the sight and sound of fire in its place -sea-faring vessels -eyes -some art

THINGS I FIND INTERESTING BUT NOT NECESSARILY BEAUTIFUL/INSPIRING:

-history -architecture -anthropology -“religion” -science

THINGS MANY PEOPLE FIND BEAUTIFUL THAT DON’T INSPIRE ME:

-politics -mathematics -philosophy -emotionalism -fanaticism -modern arts of all kinds

Gabi's Beautiful Things

Here are some things I find beautiful or inspiring —

• true love that doesn’t end badly
• gentle people who always help other people and carry their burdens without complaint
• wistful irish/scottish or indian music
• standing high up on a mountain or hill alone
• the ability of people with few material pleasures and many problems to still remain optimistic
• shakespearean poetry
• friendly animals
• flowers
• a clear precise moon
• some New Age-y and mythological art

Things I find interesting, but not necessarily beautiful or inspiring —

• history
• most art
• mathematics
• the ability to be a chameleon, changing looks, personality, and even morals at will
• vampires, dragons, and other mythical creatures

Things many people seem to find beautiful that don’t inspire me —

• most saints
• organized religion
• most ancient junk that people think is interesting like in Museums
• the role models of today (actors, pop stars, etc)
• our government

~ by Gabrielle Gustilo, age 17

My Beautiful Things Lists

Jim over at Neepeople was kind enough to respond to my little experiment, so I’ll go ahead and post my own list. It’s not the same as it would have been six months ago. In several cases, I surprised myself. The ecology stuff, btw, has to do with what I went to school for, and have done precious little with since!

Here are some things I find beautiful or inspiring —

nature….

• mountains, sunsets, clear blue skies (as in the Southwest), certain other kinds of natural scenery
• animals and plants, as species or individual creatures
• the intricacy of biological systems (ecological, biochemical)
• ecological theory: the use of mathematics to model natural systems and creatures

human beings…

• human smiles!
• the diversity of human cultures (anthropology); thriving, striving, virtuous cultures
• human cultural achievements (works of music, art, architecture, ideas, literature) as part of a whole culture (i.e. set in context)
• the Greek language

religion…

• the conscious use of Greek and of the classical trivium arts - esp. rhetoric - in the writings of the Church Fathers
• the Liturgy, liturgical prayers, including the psalms & biblical prayers - the imagery and theology of them
• good smells - incense; light - sunlight, candlelight
• peace, both in the sense of no noise and in the sense of no conflict with people or things
• quiet, silence, outside and inside
• given peace & quiet (!), working together with other people to accomplish some good and worthwhile goal

surpassing all the others…

• prayer, the experience of God, esp. in the Divine Liturgy

Things I find interesting, but not necessarily beautiful —

• theology (I used to find theological concepts and arguments much more inspiring than I do now.)
• history, esp. intellectual history, the Great Ideas, the Great Conversation
• philosophy
• political thought
• social systems and institutions, ways of organizing human social life
• literature, poetry
• science
• the conscious use of the classical trivium arts in writings related to the above
• mathematics and web technology as tools

Things many people seem to find beautiful (or fascinating) that don’t inspire/motivate me —

• music, art in general; human artistic achievements pulled out of cultural context
• “domestic” things - food, interior decor, clothing, jewelry, gardening
• young people, taking care of children - I do like to hold babies! =)
• conversation in general, being with people in general
• politics

Things I’m not sure what to do with yet —

• icons
• liturgical music
• lives of the saints
• other virtuous lives (movies, biographies) - some lives inspire me temporarily, esp. as portrayed in movies
• edifying conversation
• teaching
• pleasing other people

Beautiful Things (Lists)

What do you think are the most beautiful things in the world? OK, not “things” necessary, but human creations or natural creations or things related to God? What things do YOU personally find beautiful? What inspires you, to joy, to play, to work — not for duty’s sake or mere interest’s sake, but things that give you joy, peace, happiness? What do you find aesthetically pleasing? What do you find deeply good and true, not just in the sense of social necessity, but to souls, to your soul, to harmony or beauty of soul?

If you like, use the following categories. I’ve already made my own lists, which I’ll post later if anybody is interested in this little project.

Here are some things I find beautiful or inspiring —

Things I find interesting, but not necessarily beautiful or inspiring —

Things many people seem to find beautiful that don’t inspire me —

Things I’m not sure what to do with (things that might or should inspire me, but I don’t know yet) —

What are YOUR lists? :-)

For the History Buff

I happened upon this book at Half-Price Books today: The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity, by Richard Fletcher. Who can resist such a title in hardcover for $5.98?

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The Family Factors

Here's an interesting article (http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=19-01-023-f) at Touchstone. The author is obviously a conservative Catholic with a preference for 1950's style family life. Whatever the merits of that, ... this article is a refreshingly *historical and empirical* take on what's really been going on with the western family (American and European) for the last 150 years or so, economically, demographically, and politically. It's worth a read and even some careful study and thought. ... What are the implications here, especially pastoral?

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Devil Proofing

Last Saturday was one of those Murphy’s Law days. It’s unbelievable how many small things can go wrong in a day, if you start at the beginning and count all the way to the end. I tried hard all day to keep a sense of humor, and in fact, by the end of the day I really was laughing because everything went wrong, every single thing. I started out the day with my emotions strung up tight, but once I reconciled myself to, “This is a bad day” and didn’t worry about actually getting anything DONE, then it all was fine.

A revelation for me lately is that sometimes I really do have to laugh at myself, and at the world, and especially at the devil. An easy chuckle is devil proofing. I’m so used to taking stuff so seriously! On Saturday I started out feeling like I had to get a lot accomplished because I had been particularly lazy on Friday. All my stress over Christmas invited me to take the day on Friday, and I did almost nothing. Come Saturday, I was a prime candidate for Murphy and Co. But here was the devil being absolutely petty. Is this the best he can do? The worst he can throw at me? To have my 8.5 x 11 copies turn out sideways on 11 x 14? Cause raspberry jam to spill all over the floor? Make me drop an open bag of rice puffs… here a puff, there a puff, everywhere a rice puff. Ha! This I can afford to laugh at.

(Remind me never to buy rice puffs again.)

Revolution

The old Beatles song is going through my head, “You say you want a Re-vo-lu-shu-un…Well, ya know…”

Here’s a radical suggestion: Get rid of all the PDAs.

Instead of consulting your handheld before running off to your next thing to do, place to be, or person to see, spend five minutes in prayer. Can’t be there in prayer? Too distracted? Then don’t run off to see the next person, go to the next place, or do the next thing.

“You say you want a Re-vo-lu-shu-un…Well, ya know…We all wanna change the world.”

St. Dave and Fr. Joe

Nice one on the why blog question from Fr. Joseph:

For years I’ve told would-be writers: “A writer writes.” There is no truer saying. A writer … writes. That being the case, I guess I’m a blogger; obviously, I blog. More to the point, I only read bloggers who write. Like me, they sometimes merely link to good writing or sites of topical interest. But if a Blogger can’t actually write, I’ve better uses of my time.

I like to read people who read. I like to read people who write. I like to read words written by people who read and write. Every now and then, with God’s help and a glob of charity, I fit that bill for some.

Saint David was, as they say in the South, “eat up with it” — when it comes to journaling, writing, emoting, gushing. If you’ll forgive the analogy, he’s the king of bloggers.

… St David done and said it all. Read the Psalms.

Comfort Food

There's nothing like stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and PIE =) to hit the spot for comfort food during a crisp autumn Thanksgiving. Of course I ate way too much over the weekend, and come Sunday evening, it was time to return home from our clan get-together and to the Nativity Fast. One is almost ready to fast again -- austerely! -- after eating so much.

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