I agree. I have always been a wondering dreamer. Staring at the subtle way flowers leaves and flowers petals always follow a very geometrical formula. Fractals in nature spur my interest instantly. The way different grasses grow in large meadows during different times of year. The way insects seem to be able to fly with ease. The way ants communicate through nothing more than pheromones. I love watching a cat stalk a bird, slowly inching towards its target. The bird flies away and in an instant the cat finds something else to do.

The way I view the world built a very strange world within me and around me. City scape, (unfortunately in which I live) sadden me. The nature is artificial and planted. Humans are beautiful in almost every way. We can have great compassion for one another and great intelligence. We are however, naive to the shortness that we live here. We treat one hundred years as if it will last forever. We have always been short sighted I guess. When a tree can last four thousand years, one hundred years should not be considered long.

After growing through my teen years camping, hiking, exploring forests and parks and looking at the itty bitty small things in nature. (Ants, micro organisms, plankton, algae, soil, grass, plants) It created a person that saw himself as that, a simple cog in a very very large machine stretching far greater than just us humans. It created the idea that the world is my home. Not just the place I inhabit. It gave me a greater connection to nature and the workings of the natural land. However, this great appreciation for nature did not bring me happiness, it brought me sorrow. Sorrow because I saw what we humans have done, what we have created. A world fit for only ourselves. Leaving small parts of the natural habitat for "parks" or "wildlife parks" in the majority of first world countries. But as I grew my humanly world ideals I soon realized that it is all cyclical.

We saw it following evolution and these adaptations that allowed some species to live on and others to die out. Its what will happen to us in the indefinite amount of years before we die out. That could be two hundred years or tomorrow. But we could also save it. We could turn our species around, but like those species on the evolutionary tree that died, they could never had seen it coming until it was too late. (We could if we took our heads out of our asses.) So I have now come to the conclusion that we will die, our species. I dont care when, because when is not important. What is important is this. The seventy five years of life you are given. Those beautiful years where you get to be in consciousness. You get to explore the physical world on Earth and far beyond. We are far seeing and deep within. We can explore the Universe as well as explore our minds. This is it. This is life and that is what we get to enjoy.

Very powerful comments, I appreciate this thread immensely.

I agree, there is so much beauty around us - in both living and non-living elements of our world. I hope that more people will open their eyes to these we all see but do not always take the time to notice.

Inspiring.

Great post OP!
You put in to words the very things I feel most deeply about nature and beauty, that ineffable connection that ties us all to the world around us in a positive way.
The real challenge in life is to find that beauty in all things and all beings.
Modern society it would seem is all about ignoring beauty and teaching children to be fearful and see the negative in everything. Huge numbers of people are depressed for no other reason than that they can no longer recognize beauty or permit oneself from reaching out to it.
Society informs us through cultural standards of what is and what is not beautiful. They demand perfect symmetry and exaggerated curves of erogenous zones in women, skin with even tones and no marks or blemishes, We also seem to have a hangup about inanimate objects where things of actual or projected power like expensive cars and homes must be l larger to be better and inversely, things of convenience like computers, cell phones etc, get more beautiful the smaller they are.
They no longer teach art or music in schools for the very reason that they don't want our children to appreciate true beauty as found in nature but to adhere to the standards I listed above.

ALL OF NATURE IS BEAUTIFUL. Every plant, every insect, hill or cloud IS beauty itself. That's why it is so important to leave natural areas for people to enjoy - so that they may contact that beauty on a daily basis and cleanse their hearts of all the negativity.
I wonder if perhaps what happens when we interact with beauty is not that we get anything from the object itself but what we release from ourselves in terms of negativity. Maybe it's some of both.

Outstanding post, thank you!

Hi all.
I actually solved the beauty problem.
I have a small essay written on it.
it really explains and solves th question.
Shall I share?

Originally posted by BBalazs
Hi all.
I actually solved the beauty problem.
I have a small essay written on it.
it really explains and solves th question.
Shall I share?

Share all you like. Everyones ideas are welcome.

In my case...Beauty is a thought. A perfect thought. I understand nature only too well as I used to teach survival and the one thing you can take out of survival training is that EVERYTHING in nature wants you DEAD!
Not for some murderous purpose but rather as a way to feed everthing and anything in Nature...thus it is known as...THE FOOD CHAIN. Split Infinity

Originally posted by Asktheanimals

Modern society it would seem is all about ignoring beauty and teaching children to be fearful and see the negative in everything. Huge numbers of people are depressed for no other reason than that they can no longer recognize beauty or permit oneself from reaching out to it.
Society informs us through cultural standards of what is and what is not beautiful. They demand perfect symmetry and exaggerated curves of erogenous zones in women, skin with even tones and no marks or blemishes, We also seem to have a hangup about inanimate objects where things of actual or projected power like expensive cars and homes must be l larger to be better and inversely, things of convenience like computers, cell phones etc, get more beautiful the smaller they are.
They no longer teach art or music in schools for the very reason that they don't want our children to appreciate true beauty as found in nature but to adhere to the standards I listed above.

So true. Somethng interesting to note as well is that the countries with the highest rate of youth suicide (which I believe to be a good measure of overall happiness levels) are all 1st world western countries. Countries where these children seemingly have it all, but yet that is not enough.

Funnily enough the countires with the lowest suicide rates are some of the most impoverished nations there are. Having travelled to a few of these countries I can personally say that the children I met there are some of the happiest I've ever seen in my life.