Finding Beauty in these ugly times
We are all going through an extraordinary time in our lives, where many things are changing and many others are expected to change. We’re sure you’ll agree with us when we say that now, more than ever, there is a great need for beauty in the world.
But what exactly is beauty, nowadays?
Let’s go back a few steps. Twenty-five centuries ago to be exact.
In Ancient Greek culture, there was a concept that perfectly described the character of their heroes: καλοκαγαθία, a term whose use is attested since Herodotus — that lived in the fifth century BC — to the classical period, and that came to mean the ideal or perfect man (gender roles, at that time, used to be different than they are today).
Though untranslatable, it can be regarded as the combination of distinct virtues, which roughly correspond to the adjective “beautiful” (καλὸς) and “good” (ἀγαθός). The intersection of the two of them leads to the synthetic description of the hero, that summarizes aesthetical and ethical virtues. In such a human being, body and mind collaborate because internal conflicts have been overcome.
Is it possible to translate this concept into modern times? Broadly speaking, I think so — there is still a strong link between these two virtues.
What is beautiful could not fail to be good and what is good is undeniably beautiful.
But a further step must be taken: removing the aristocratic patina it gathered while lying dormant for so long. In the post-pandemic world, we need to carefully consider the countless shades of good, that can’t be confined to just a mood. Good has to mean accessible to everyone, sustainable, and also evolutionary. Like beauty itself, after all.
Beauty has never been, over the centuries, an absolute and timeless value.
To quote the Maestro Umberto Eco: It was harmonious or Dionysian, it was associated with the monstrosity in the Middle Ages and the harmony of the celestial spheres in the Renaissance; it took the forms of a certain “je ne sais quoi” in the romantic period and then became artifice, joke, quote throughout the twentieth century.
Today, a piece of street art can be beautiful as well as an Instagram post or a YouTube video.
This concept led to the creation of Finding Beauty, a weekly newsletter that I curate for Imille.
A collection dedicated to the curious, the self-motivated learners and the explorers inside us all. For those who, whether consciously or not, embrace the kaizen (literally, “change for better”) culture. A treasure trove of the beautiful things collected and cherished throughout the workweek — and the weekend too. An attempt to help all of us to be better professionals and, why not, also better people.
How Finding Beauty works: five absolutely arbitrary doses of content, in the form of an absolutely arbitrary Top 5, once a week. You can subscribe here.
But there is no beauty without cooperation. It lies at the heart of human lives and society, from the littlest interactions to the greatest endeavors. It’s a matter of survival. So Finding Beauty needs the contribution of us all.
For this reason you can contribute too, by pointing out all that you find beautiful on the Internet. Just drop the beauty via email at findingbeauty@imille.agency.
See you at the next newsletter!
