A Desire for the Beautiful Experience

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Four summers ago, while on a class trip to Paris, I found myself wandering along the Seine River with a handful of friends in the late afternoon. Given an hour block of freedom before we needed to return for dinner, we decided to wander among the street vendors that lined the river in the name of sightseeing and exploration. As we reached the end of the street, a small bookstore was tucked away in a corner off to the right, concealed in such a way that it would be easy to miss. Turning over our right shoulder, we crossed under an archway of trees and followed a cobblestone sidewalk to the front of the store, once hidden by the branches overhead.  The evergreen-colored storefront was cornered against the white cement walls that extended upwards toward the sky, interrupted by subtle string lights hanging from the surrounding branches. Antique tables were scattered near the store’s entrance, cluttered around bookshelves and displays. A line of five or so people stood outside the front entranceway, and my friends and I filed into line behind them. The storefront was nothing less than enchanting, and I felt a swell of excitement rush through me as I stood in line, despite not knowing what I would find inside.

 

Fast forward to a year and a half later, where I sit huddled over textbooks and notepaper at a window seat just after dark. Now in college, I’ve identified coffee shops as my preferred places to study, and have consistently sought them out whenever in need of a dose of productivity and a bit of relaxation—in the rare moments that the two are able to coexist. This coffee shop in particular is one of my favorite places to go, particularly after the sun disappears and the interior becomes illuminated by the small lights lining the wall displays. Having just completed the first week of December, the window is lined with string lights and snowflake decals in its individual contribution to the holiday spirit that has completely encompassed Ann Arbor. The reflection of the small lights in the window intermingle with and those of the bulbs lining the Michigan Theater marquee beyond the glass. As I copy down notes with my coffee resting beside me, I feel embraced in a sense of warmth and content as I continue studying—an impressive feat considering the multitude of final exams I have lingering on the horizon.

 

A few months and a new semester later, I find myself walking across campus towards North Quad for my 8:00am discussion. Having missed my alarm and walked into sub-freezing temperatures with a head of hair not quite dry from my shower, I find myself in the aftermath of an overnight snowfall with a less than pleasant disposition. After ten minutes into my fifteen-minute walk to class, I realize that I’ve spent the entirety of my commute with my head down, headphones in, and eyes focused on the snow-covered pavement ahead of me. It wasn’t until I cross the Michigan League that I remove my headphones, pick my head up and acknowledge the setting around me. An opaque layer of snow lines the sidewalks and tops of bushes, and the Michigan league itself—a red brick structure with grand, cement lined windows—hovers between the uniform frosty gray of both the ground and the sky. Streetlamps scattered on the sidewalk contribute a faint, warm glow to the scene, tracing the pathways into snowy oblivion. The silence and stillness surrounding me took my breath away, and my initial reluctance to leave the residence hall that morning became a hesitancy to continue on my commute and leave the glowing landscape in my snow-lined tracks.

 

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All three experiences carry a sense of beauty that is hard to articulate. Not one takes your breath away with their magnificence and grandeur; they are simple moments exhibiting small but powerful hints of intriguing contentment. I am always fascinated by these moments, ones that are completely unexpected but carry an immediate sign that this moment is one to be remembered, ones to be appreciated. Their presence is almost addictive, demanding that the experience be categorized and identified, so that it can claim more of a presence in one’s life. The problem, however, is that the fleeting nature of these moments is arguably what makes them so special.

 

While different labels have been given to such an occurrence, the term “beautiful experience,” has most resonated with me. The challenge of putting words to thoughts—an obstacle I encounter on the daily—in this context was arguably best confronted by Dorthe Jorgensen, a professor of philosophy who described beautiful experiences as moments in which “it is possible to perceive reality—and thus society—without resorting to normal divisions and contrasts.” The idea of a breakaway from actuality resonates with anyone who has found themselves in the cornered by reality, and thus can add great value to the life of anyone who wishes to embrace it.

 

I wish to explore the nature of these so-called beautiful experiences; what they are, why they elicit the reactions they do, and why they are so fleeting—perhaps more so in today’s technological-driven world. More importantly, I crave the understanding of how to create more opportunities for them in my own life, if there is such a way.

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Perhaps the first obstacle in trying to understand a phenomenon and its effects on our lives is to understand what it actually is. In other words, in collecting a number of instances of which one would characterize a beautiful experience, what did they all have in common? What similarities were woven through the thread of each moment? Further, are there specific aspects that serve as prerequisites to having a beautiful experience?

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A common theme in moments that have stuck with me has been a feeling of easiness that appeared without notice; namely, a sense of unexpected simplicity. Whether I had low expectations to begin with or none at all, the beauty of the moment took me by surprise and therefore solidified its importance in the nature of the experience. If you think about it, it is more likely to experience an unexpected heightening of senses when in an unassuming environment rather than, for example, walking through the Versailles gardens. In a setting in which beauty is expected, one may still have a reaction, but it will be less astounding than that of a modest environment, such as a city street, an open field, or even a coffee shop.

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Perhaps the beauty of each moment lies in the emotions that the experience carries. This is more of an individualistic approach to the “beautiful experience,” but is valid nonetheless. Emotions, perhaps more so than anything, have the ability to arrest our attention and separate us from the reality at hand, arguably one of the main interpretations of a beautiful experience. Ken Taylor, creator of the philosophy-focused blog Philosophy Talk, but it simply when he argued that “being in the presence of a beautiful thing is transporting . . . it has the power to take over our consciousness and move us to new places in unexpected ways.” This journey obviously isn’t a physical one, so it must rely on the strength of emotions to carry one and make a lasting impact. 

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In discussing the emotional role in beautiful experiences, take, for example, the three experiences described at the beginning of this essay. The storefront represented a “hidden gem” that was unassuming from afar, but exuded adventure and intrigue once you got close enough to see the books lining the exterior walls and the people waiting apprehensively to enter inside. The window seat on that December night was a quiet retreat in the midst of a busy atmosphere, lined with string lights that distracted from the copious amounts of final exams and holiday shopping that loomed on the horizon. The snow-lined landscape on that February morning was a moment of appreciation in an otherwise miserable morning, one that had the unlikely power to turn my thoughts away from the morning’s mishaps and towards a sense of beauty, silence, and stillness. Each image had the power to transport me away from reality and towards a place where my senses were heightened to the surrounding beauty, beauty that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

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There is also an inherent uniqueness to the concept of a beautiful experience. Much like the Versailles gardens example from above, it is the instances in which one feels as though their experience has only been encountered—or perhaps, encountered to a similar degree—by a select few, if anyone. This also implies a personal aspect to the beautiful experience, as each individual brings their own likes, dislikes, and personality, to name a few, to any moment in life.

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I believe the unique aspect of these experiences yield some of the most memorable times in one’s life, thus producing the beautiful experience; the inhibition of screaming along lyrics at your favorite musician’s concert, the illumination of fireflies set against a dark backdrop of a late night bonfire with friends, or the enlightenment that accompanies a meaningful and insightful conversation with a confidant. However, just as memories vary from person to person, so too do the standards for which one considers something to be beautiful. While one person may look at a forest landscape with great awe and admiration, they may find an image of a sunset—perhaps igniting emotion in another individual—as not necessarily carrying any notable impact. But despite the differences, there seems to be certain pattern for the reasons as to which people find things beautiful, specifically in the attributes of an experience that one admires and appreciates.

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This begs the question of whether a beautiful experience is objective or subjective in nature. While some may claim, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” there are things—certain music or art, for example—that are thought to be beautiful by a large majority. While this may be true, I argue that the very nature of a beautiful experience being an experience, specifically, makes it of a subjective nature. An experience is often shaped by the individual perspective, worldviews, and emotions that all carry personal implications.

 

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While the majority of discussion so far has been surrounding the positive attributes of beautiful experiences, a beautiful experience does not necessarily have to be pleasant, per se. If you think of a beautiful experience as one that captivates your attention and senses, those emotions do not necessarily have to be positive ones to be considered. Possibly, negative emotions such as agitation, melancholy, or dismay can be even more unforgiving in their ability their captivation of one’s consciousness and creating a beautiful experience—though it may not be as apparent as those rooted in positive emotions.

 

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Having introduced a number of attributes that can be likely assumed of most beautiful experiences, it is natural to acknowledge the reason for seeking out beautiful experiences in the first place. In an obvious sense, experiencing beautiful things holds immense value—everyone has a personal favorite song, film, or location that they look to when craving an emotional or experience, whatever those emotions may be. The true value of a beautiful experience, however, lies in its ability to change the way we think, feel, and interact with the people and world around us. Perhaps a good starting point for acknowledging the value of beautiful experiences lies in its definition by Jorgensen stated at the beginning of this essay: “The so-called experiences of beauty can provide us with vital insight: it is possible to perceive reality—and thus—society—without resorting to the normal divisions and contrasts.” Thus, the beautiful experience offers us much more than just in a physical sense. It expands our abilities to interact with the world and our own thoughts and feelings by ignoring any constructs or limits established by society, and live exclusively according to our own interpretations of the surrounding world.

 

This idea of an expansion and transcendence of self as allowed through the beautiful experience is more clearly explained via a contributing author to the blog, Psychology of Beauty, in their discussion of the value of “beautiful thinking.” Most of us view the world around us form inside a box, the author argues, with the surrounding walls representing our previous reactions we have had to any given event (some think of this box in terms of word availability, in which you are experiencing something, but your lack of words to describe the thing negates your perception of the thing’s existence). Once you are able to recognize the box as “self-limiting,” and thus acknowledge your power to step outside the box, you no longer face the barrier that once limited you to understand your experiences in terms that you were already aware of.  You can now see the world around you in a different way—without any limits or constraints—and recognize the characteristic beauty of any experience.

 

Though a bit abstract, this metaphor speaks volumes to the value of beautiful experiences in our lives. Once we actively take steps to seek out beautiful experiences and identify them, we take more and more steps to push past any realistic limits and prepare ourselves to think more broadly and feel more intensely.

 

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While it has been argued that the creation of a beautiful experience is very much influenced by the conscious choice of the experiencer, it is understandable to argue the presence of societal and cultural influences that may affect our ability or willingness to engage with beautiful experiences. The most prevalent of these is the affordances offered by today’s social media, and the enabling of shared experiences in massive numbers.

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When the experiences of reality now find themselves not only being played out in real-time, but also documented for all to see, the beautiful experience is being undervalued. The documentation of others’ experiences on social media has made it harder to discern each individual’s personal engagement with their own experiences. That is, although social media introduces a number of different worldviews and perspectives to one’s own life, it blurs—or perhaps erases—the unique ways in which individuals interpret their own experiences. Say, for example, you are taking a trip to the Grand Canyon. Though you yourself have never been, you have many friends who have, and have further documented their experience and subsequent feelings on social media. As you prepare to go to the Grand Canyon, the way you interact with the sights and the experience may incorporate your own unique perspectives, in addition to those of others. Thus, the individualistic foundation on which the beautiful experience rests—namely the way one brings their own worldviews and unique thoughts and emotions to a moment—is compromised by the comments of others.

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In addition to effect that the prevalence of others’ experiences may have on one’s ability to engage with beautiful experiences, the sheer number of experiences shared on social media also has its consequences. While everyone shares their own enlightening experiences on a shared platform, the oversaturation of experiences identified as unique starts to feel customary and may result in desensitization, which, in my opinion, may be the biggest offender of the value of the beautiful experience. With enough exposure to others’ experiences, certain moments begin to be labeled as “mainstream,” which, considering its connotations may become less appealing or written off as “unworthy.” However, this unfortunate phenomenon disregards the fact that individuals respond differently to different experiences, and a moment one may right off as “conformist” may have held great value in another. The more experiences claimed as “beautiful” posted to social media platforms, the less value they hold in the eyes of the user.

 

While social media is a possible obstacle to one’s true engagement with beautiful experiences, I’d like to note that it is not exclusively problematic. Social media does have the ability to introduce opportunities for beautiful experiences. For instance, when others post about their own emotions and thoughts, they may highlight or encourage potential memories and moments that may have otherwise not been probable. Having said this, it is important as a society that we not view the documentation of experiences on social media as a replacement for interaction with beautiful experiences in the physical sense. As argued previously, so much of the foundation of the beautiful experience is based in the engagement of the emotional and the heightening of the senses, both of which arguably cannot be practiced in front of a screen. Thus, while social media may provide a beneficial catalyst to the increase of opportunities for beautiful experiences, there is still value in interacting with the world at a level that yields an appreciation for beauty and emotion.

 

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The beautiful experience truly serves as an opportunity to enhance one’s life. With the ability to introduce new ways of thinking, connecting with emotions, and truly appreciating the surrounding world, living a life that is open to completely immersing oneself in beauty and appreciation is an appealing yet courageous way to live. The moments I’ve had in my life that I would term “beautiful experiences,” were memorable in all the ways stated above, with the addition to being crucial to the shaping of who I am today. The ways in which I interact with my thoughts, emotions, and the world form the attributes that I view as most unique to my own personality, and I believe the same to be true of those around me. Perhaps the value and appeal of the beautiful experience rings truest in its ability to form a population of people that engages with the world in different and unique ways, yet all comes together in a shared passion for the engagement itself.

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