Grateful for beauty

I was back on my morning run after nearly 10 days of vacation in which I did lots of walking but no running. I live near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, and I run along the water east towards Fells Point or west towards the National Aquarium. I chose west this morning, and I’m glad I did.

As I was looping around the second and bigger of the two aquarium buildings, I saw in its shadows a group of boys — probably ages 10 to 14 — and several adult men with them wearing what I thought were Panama hats. I am a great hat lover and envious of those who seem to wear them with ease. There are always school or church groups of kids around the harbor, often wearing clothing that identifies them with their group, usually T-shirts. These hats were so great though, and I was going to tell them so. As I got closer, I realized they were part of a bigger group of Amish or Mennonites or some similar sect, for whom this was their regular clothing, not tour group kitsch. I kept quiet.

These hats then, were not Panama hats. They were more functional — deeper head covering and wider brims. I could imagine them being worn outside while farming — though they made their wearers quite handsome as well. All the boys had on white or blue shirts with dark pants and dark shoes. Some kept their pants up with suspenders. The grown-up men with them were dressed the same way and all had beards around their chins but with no hair over their lips. The short snippets of conversation I overheard were not in English — it sounded more like German. Though they could have been from Amish country, but they also could have been European.

And as I rounded the corner I saw the rest of the group — the girls I had not seen initially. They were all wearing lovely free-flowing dresses that had attached sashes that could be worn several different ways. The dresses were two-tone — black with blue or black with purple. The dresses were below the knee-length, perhaps mid-calf length and they were worn with black tights and black walking shoes. All the girls wore their hair back of their faces in braids or a bun. The women among them were dressed similarly, but some with a translucent white cap.

All I could think of when I saw this group of children was how beautiful they were as a group — aesthetically because of their clothing and gracefulness and in the serenity of their togetherness. They were talking with each other and the adults. Four of the girls were walking with their arms linked, smiles all around. No child nor adult had a communication device with them. Everyone seemed at ease and in community. Adults and children talked to each other quietly and freely — no heavy discipline and genuine politeness.

In America we get very concerned about protecting children’s individuality as it relates to everything in our environment, but I think it comes at a price. Ironically, “freeing” kids up to do whatever they want puts a lot of pressure on them in a culture where there is pressure to create an identity that will be approved by their peers. A 12 year old girl, however, should not have to worry about being cool or some kind of pop culture beautiful or sexy — and what I saw this morning was that these girls did not. I appreciated that their community was giving them the space to be who they are without the outside trappings and within an adult-sanctioned and supported social space. And I appreciated that what their community did give them to wear was so simple and so lovely — something anyone could wear and feel both comfortable and beautiful.

I know little about the glue that holds together the particular community I saw this morning, except what I have described. There are a lot of questions to be raised about the limits of uniformity placed on community membership — where does it end? at what age? is there gender equity? how will children learn to make decisions? I think it depends to a great degree on community context (and therefore, I do not have to answer any of these now), but for the moments I was in the presence of these children and their adult chaperones, I was grateful for the beauty and calm energy they created in that space.