The Feeling of Beauty is True

Jeremie K. Imamura

September 16, 2019

RD1

Word count: 1149

The Feeling of Beauty is True

On the last day of summer break before school started in August, my wife and I decided to take our seven-year-old niece, Nova to Sea Life Park on Oahu. Nova decided to wear a purple short sleeve shirt with frills on the cuff of the sleeve, pink shorts underneath a fluorescent, lime green and pink tutu, and her dark brown hair styled in a bob cut. Nova is holding tightly onto the bird seed and starch coated popsicle stick with her right hand, reaching with all her might towards the hundreds of lovebirds and cockatiels within the bird enclosure. Her eyes are hopeful that one will land on her popsicle stick and eat the birdseed, which is made up of millet spray, which is a tan color, two millimeter in diameter, round shelled seed that birds love to eat. Nova’s determination to achieve her goal is shown by the insistent stretch of her right arm high into the air towards the birds that were located anywhere from five to eight feet off the ground. Her three-foot height stature made it too challenging so with my assistance, by placing her on my shoulders, allowed her to use my six-foot height to boost her enough to the lovebirds that one hopped on. Nova squealed with delight, excitement and fascination in her eyes, caused my heart felt full.  Her reaction caused me to feel her excitement and this beautiful moment made me smile. [THESIS]Emotions are something we feel; and the things we feel are beautiful. [THESIS] 

Photo taken Aug 19,2018 by Keri Ann Kiriu Imamura
(my spouse) at Sea life Park Bird enclosure
permission to use photo Shayna Hanai, Nova's mother

Nova looks at everything and does not waste time analyzing every little thing. She enjoys the moment. Being able to experience the joy she expresses feels wonderful and this is true beauty. In Richard Seymour’s Ted Talk, How Beauty Feels, provided a picture of a drawing that was not great, it was a daisy with a butterfly drawn in pencil with many crooked lines and lack of symmetry. He looked around the room and described various expressions. He then took it a step further and pointed out that it was made by Heidi, a five-year-old girl, as her last act before she passed away. At this point many expressions changed and what caught my attention was he pointed out the emotions shown by a woman who was crying. This feeling, this emotion, is what makes things beautiful. We spend so much time analyzing that we do not take the time to enjoy the beauty and innocence the way children do. Nova’s joy and fascination when she had the lovebird on her arm eating the millet spray was beautiful and it is because I felt the joy and fascination she showed.

Going back to how Nova dressed, the different colors, their brightness, and the choice of attire all showed how bubbly, happy, and bright she is as a person. This is who she is, and she is beautiful because she feels beautiful. Richard Seymour also stated, “emotional functionality,” over form and function. What this means is don’t try to determine if the shape or design of beauty has purpose.  Utilize feeling when determining if the object or situation has beauty. Nova’s choice of attire is exactly what Richard is talking about. The shape, combination, and purpose are not beauty, how Nova felt wearing that outfit made her happy, joyful, and proud placed emotion to the functionality of the outfit and therefore that is beauty. 

JB-Clark Velasco commented on Richard’s Ted Talk as well stating, “I believe that beauty is felt in the moment, and that thinking about and remembering that moment can enhance the experience for us.” People observe so much beauty around us and can’t help to take many take pictures and videos, however they also just sit and enjoy this moment. By taking the time to just enjoy moments where people feel what they are experiencing lasts within themselves. Nova and I enjoy the moment, we take fewer pictures because the memory of what we experienced is a more beautiful feeling than looking at a photograph or video. We spent the entire day at Sea Life Park and have maybe 10 pictures to show for it. Take the time to enjoy and experience beauty around us. 

In Robert Frost’s, Dust of Snow, he wrote, “has given my heart a change of mood.” How this was interpreted is people take things for granted. If one takes the time to realize beauty is everywhere and just enjoys the moment, their mood can change. What this does is reinforce Richard Seymour’s Ted talk about beauty is felt. Lynnette Tanaka’s response to my thoughts on Frost’s poem was, “as children we just enjoy things and are not capable of having deep thoughts and concentration as adults do.”  As children we do not think about it because it does not take thought, just action. They enjoy and feel the moment, unlike adults who tend to place too much thought into it. Take the time to enjoy the moment, the beauty that surrounds us and your mood will improve.

Cameron Russel’s Ted Talk, Looks Aren’t Everything. Believe Me, I’m a Model, spoke about how an image can be both powerful and superficial. What I found great about her statement is she was able to prove this point in the first minute by changing her attire from a dress with eight-inch heels to a sweater, long sarong, and flats. She followed that up with pointing out how others feel uncomfortable with how she dressed. We may perceive things, people, places to be beautiful in pictures, but there could be flaws (scuff on back of shined shoe which is hidden because photo is front view), insecurities (person feels they are too skinny, overweight, depressed, anxiety), or obscurities (Christmas trees look great from the angle of the photo, however the back side may be bare, or have browned needles). Cameron stated, “I hope what you are seeing is that these pictures are not pictures of me, they are constructions.” What this means is the photos do not show who she is, it is what someone else created the image to become.

William Carlos Williams’ poem, So Much Depends, his description of beauty is seen in something as simple as contrast between two things. The white chicken in contrast to, “a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water,” immerses myself as the reader at a simple farm, or even a large farm.  I not only visualize the beauty; I feel this beauty, which ties back into Richard Seymour’s Ted Talk.

We need to stop analyzing beauty and experience it. By associating feelings and emotion with beauty, we see things for what they are. Continue to live in the moment instead of trying to take pictures or videos for memories. With enjoying the moment can easily change our mood and that positive change makes us all beautiful. Pictures tend to hide the truth behind each photo, look beyond the picture and learn about the location, person, or item so you can see the true beauty. Appreciate each moment you have and the beauty around us and enjoy emotions because this is what we feel; the way we feel is beautiful.

Works Cited

Seymour, Richard. “How Beauty Feels.” TED. YouTube, 11 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 Aug 2019.

Williams, William Carlos, “So Much Depends.” Representative Poetry Online, University of Toronto Libraries, 2000. Web. 28 Aug 2019.

Frost, Robert. “Dust of Snow.” Representative Poetry Online, University of Toronto Libraries, 1998. Web. 28 Aug 2019.

Russell, Cameron. “Looks Aren’t Everything. Believe Me, I’m a Model.” TED. YouTube, 16 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Aug 2019.

Clark Velasco, JB. “Video Talks.” Laulima Discussion, University of Hawai’i, 11 Sep 2019. Web. 11 Sep 2019.

Tanaka, Lynnette. “Ten Poets.” Laulima Discussion, University of Hawai’i, 4 Sep 2019. Web. 4 Sep 2019.