Our perception of beauty, in itself, is something indescribable. It's a highly personal and subjective matter that varies from person to person like the weather on any given day of the week. So many different factors determine what an individual or entire culture might consider beautiful, so how can one even begin to explain it or justify why we need it? 

Let's start by thinking about the idea of beauty and define exactly what it is. Quite simply, beauty is a personal pleasure, an elevation of the soul, an awareness of joy and a reinforcement of security in an uncertain world. It reminds us of happy times, places treasured in our experience and memory, and gives us hope for the future. Symmetry and form lift our spirits because they can be understood. It's why almost everyone loves a sunny day with a refreshing breeze and also why most people react to a friendly smile or a beloved face. Beautiful things inspire beautiful actions. People want to be happy, they want to feel good and beautiful things almost always deliver that coveted pleasure we seek.

Nature is beautiful.

Animals are beautiful.

Our friends and loved ones are beautiful.

Our world is beautiful.

Inspriring places and people are beautiful.

Being happy is beautiful.

But the reality of the situation is that beauty like happiness is fleeting and so all the more precious. It's not like something you can keep forever, but it's definitely something we all crave. 

And so, we need a refuge, a place to escape and seek some reinforcement. Being visual creatures, we need to "see" that every thing is going to be OK more than anything because sometimes our minds just can't convince us. And so when we can't actually be experiencing the joyous moments and memories of our life, we look at a beautiful painting, we listen to music, we take a walk in the woods or snuggle with a beloved companion animal. We seek beautiful moments amidst the chaos and they save us.

Humans want to feel connected to Nature. We want to stay in touch with that beauty as much as possible and we seek it in our everyday life. When stress overtakes us or worry fills our minds, art is the savior because it reminds us that in every cloud there is indeed a silver lining.

So does the world need beautiful art? Absolutely.

These days, more than ever we need to be lifted up and inspired.

Because we do live in a beautiful world and we can't ever forget that.

And sometimes we do.

Art is a constant reminder that you can always make lemonade from the constant onlaught of lemons, my friends. So whether you are making it, enjoying it or doing both, never stop absorbing art's beauty and  postive energy because like th sun, it's necessary for our survival.