Sea squirts and the eye of beauty
As an artist, I would rather draw a face with character than a mask of perfection. (The fact that I’m not very good at drawing faces is beside the point – this is a philosophical ramble but don’t worry, I’ll keep it brief!)
There was a piece on the radio recently about a new dating agency for beautiful people only. In fact there are several – one of them has a long list of banned features, including non-symmetrical faces or bodies, big noses, and wearing out of date fashions. So you can be a cold hearted inarticulate bitch with an ego the size of Milton Keynes as long as you have white even teeth and no centre parting. Hmmm. Perhaps the word beauty needs redefining. A shift of emphasis away from the outer to inner beauty would not go amiss. Years ago I was told a story of a wise man who asked his student what qualities she would like to see more of in the world. “Respect, courtesy, humanity, warmth, generosity of spirit, that kind of thing”, she said. “Well then”, came the reply. “Put them there!”
Enough rambling, back to wrestling with chapter three – all about coastlines, harbours and rockpools. I wonder if sea squirts think all other sea squirts are beautiful…… I’m sure they do.