Beauty is best admired from afar

3 Gratitudes:

1. Thank you Christine for the bus pass!
2. Love the aikido training!
3. Thank you Arash for the help with my prelim :)



A girl waiting at the bus stop sparked the title of today's post and inspiration. My short journey back to my laboratory from a talk took me to a bus stop along the way and I suddenly catch a glimpse of a beauty that mesmerized me for a few seconds. OK I admit I was staring a little. She was waiting for the bus about 100 feet from where I saw her. As I continued my casual stroll towards her (unintentionally), her beauty (face only cause you know, it's winter) became less and less apparent. And a once beauty of no equal became a look that was merely above average (yeah I'm shallow, trust me I know). Now imagine a majestic mountain, doesn't it look amazing from afar with clouds hanging just above it's peak? As you move closer and closer what you see is just rocks. This brings us to perspective: they way we see things.  Although my observation today skewed the topic slightly, there a things that are more beautiful as we get closer. I would say however, there is a limit on how far/ how close we see certain things until they have lost that beauty. I shall call it the Sam's theory of distance threshold for beauty. 

The same can be said not only for looks, but also how we perceive someone depending on our relationship. Your sweetheart that you thought changed after being in a relationship? No, they didnt change, you just got closer and guess what? You might find them ugly! (not in the shallow way of course). This also holds true when we are brooding upon an issue. The more you keep thinking about a problem, the worse it seems, no? These are those times when we should take a step back and really, nothing is a big deal. Most of the time life is about perspective, kind of like martial arts, knowing when to look closer and when to take a step back can really make you more miserable or happy. Your choice! :)