There are three types of people in this world: the type that finished the sentence with "until the crystal cracked," the type that also finished that sentence and then heard the next notes from that Crystal Method song, and the type that has no idea what the hell I'm referring to.
This is, if viewed from a few particular angles, a beautiful world. Some people have a way of looking at the natural world even in the midst of a tightly-packed urban area and see the beauty there. Some people look at urbanization to the point of near cyberpunk and see the beauty there, instead. Some people look at the multitude of ways to express the world in scientific and mathematic terms and see the beauty in the numbers. Some people are blessed with seeing love in every human interaction and proclaim that to be beautiful - these people are, unfortunately for me, hopelessly optimistic but hey - life goals.
There's a lot of beauty to be beheld, but it's very much a question of whether the glass is half full, or if it's half empty. You could believe that the pinnacle of beauty in your eyes is the vast ocean, and still see nothing but the bleaching coral and collapse of multiple ocean ecosystems. You could find beauty in the weather cycle, and only see how much it's changed in the time since childhood, seeing dead grass and empty former-forest where once there was abundance. You could believe that the ultimate beauty is the purity of acts of kindness, and still find it difficult to see through acts of unprovoked cruelty.
What's beautiful to me?
The way that some authors have with words (1). Children that clearly love whatever it is they're up to at the time. Unexpected key and tempo changes. A clear, high, empty E played on a violin, and the deep, sustained C of a cello. Melodic banjo. The first few meters under the surface of fathoms-deep ocean in the sunlight. Winter sun in the Appalachians. The first time the sun and air conspire to make it truly feel like autumn. Topographic and bathymetric maps of interesting areas, especially river basins, coastal areas, and mountain ranges in the middle of nowhere, civilization-wise. Deep, smooth bass in just the right spot in a song. Unprovoked acts of kindness and selflessness. The trust inherent in reaching out to a friend when in need, and being reached out to. Rolling thunder in an electrical storm. A macro working flawlessly on the first attempt. The sound of rain dripping from leaves after an early-summer rain.
The last few years have been tough for me to see the beauty everywhere that I used to, but after a while, it became clear that the trick is to make the choice to see it - that's not always possible, but it gets easier with practice.
(1 - click to go back up) Some favorite quotes:
"I think hell is something you carry around with you. Not somewhere you go." Neil Gaiman, The Sandman
"This I choose to do. If there is a price, this I choose to pay. If it is my death, then I choose to die. Where this takes me, there I choose to go. I choose. This I choose to do." Terry Pratchett, Wintersmith
"I was surprised that peacekeeping involved killing so many people, but it is what it is." Craig Alanson, Columbus Day
"We know, for instance, that there is a direct, inverse relationship between frequency of family meals and social problems. Bluntly stated, members of families who eat together regularly are statistically less likely to stick up liquor stores, blow up meth labs, give birth to crack babies, commit suicide, or make donkey porn. If Little Timmy had just had more meatloaf, he might not have grown up to fill chest freezers with Cub Scout Parts." Anthony Bourdain, Medium Raw
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