Developing the Aesthetic Sense
Neera Parakh
Why it is
important to develop your aesthetic sense?
How can one
develop aesthetic sense in oneself?
In my journey to understand my
creative urge to express itself, I found how important it is for a person to
have a developed aesthetic sense to live a beautiful, harmonious, rich life and
be a finer person. I have realised that aesthetic sense doesn’t confine itself
to beauty in material things like clothes, painting, furniture or jewellery. It
also means being sensitive to people, surroundings and nature.
An aesthetic sense is to have the
sensibility to love beauty, harmony in people and in your self
If one has love for beauty in life, in
people, in nature, in material things, in space, is sensitive to your own
emotions, others’ emotions, your environment, you progress for transformation.
To live aesthetically is to live spiritually.
To be able to appreciate beauty in
everything around you, this includes seeing beauty in physical world as well as
in your own thoughts, speech and action.
Why it is important to develop your aesthetic sense?
“For there is a
psychological health even as there is a physical health, there is a beauty of
the body and its movements.…… to love beautiful, lofty, healthy and noble
things whether in nature or human creation. It must be a true aesthetic
culture. For in the wake of the last wars and the terrible nervous tension
which they provoked, as a sign, perhaps the decline of the civilisation and
decomposition of society, has come a growing vulgarity which seems to have
taken possession of human life, individual as well as collective.”[1]
When we look at the society in
the present we realise vulgarity, crudity and ugliness is taking charge of the
society. Today when one reads newspapers full of rape news, child molestation,
ill-treatment of elders and disabled, one wonders where all this is taking us.
One has to stop and look at the root cause of all that is happening around us. In
the world scenario we find unrest, tensions, insecurities and terrorism
everywhere. At the personal level one finds unhappiness, chaos, growing mental
illness on the rise in society; it all requires us to probe in matters deeply.
When one tries to find the root cause one understands how human beings have
lost touch with their original happy selves. It is so important to be you
natural self who is so full of ideas and creativity. To give a right direction
to that energy is so important to make a harmonious world around. We all know
that in the present times, mental illness is growing as an epidemic; that’s
where, one realises, to have a developed aesthetic sense is the way to become a
finer human being who is full of love, generosity, kindness, sensitivity
towards others.
Art plays an important role in the vital
energy of innermost being and leads us to self-transformation. The growing
confusion that has clouded creative efforts in present times will clear only
when art becomes a means to enlarge and expand human consciousness.
“It is by educating
the vital, by making it more refined, more sensitive, more subtle, one should
almost say, more elegant, in the best sense of the word that one can over come
the violence, brutalities, which are in general, movements of crudity and
ignorance of our lack of taste.”[2]
Insights of ancient Indian
culture emphasised discovering the essence of nature through exploration of
self so essential to art consciousness, and as an extension of experience of
realms of intuition and mystic vision. The artist tried to connect his
individual consciousness with the deepest layers of his being to extend it to
its outermost limits.
The most important aspect of a creative
experience was establishment of links between the human consciousness and the
individual self. Through the insight of his creative imagination, the artist
shaped a more meaningful and spiritual aspect of his journey through life. Art,
as a practical act, revealed to an artist the depth of his creative being,
unfolding layers of his consciousness in a creative stream.
Indian jewellery is not merely craft; it
is an art, both in design and workmanship. We look into the creative mind of
the jewellery designer for whom all creations are an inexhaustible source of
inspiration.
“Art is a living
harmony and beauty that must be expressed in all the movements of existence.
This manifestation of beauty and harmony is part of the divine realisation upon
earth, perhaps even its part.”[3]
How one can develop aesthetic sense in oneself ?
“Let beauty be your
constant ideal”
The beauty of the soul
The beauty of sentiments
The beauty of thought
The beauty of the action
The beauty in the work
So that nothing
comes out of your hands which is not an expression of pure and harmonious
beauty.”[4]
To
be conscious
One has to be conscious about one’s
inner being. Take a few minutes to reflect on how you give of yourself to the
world. Look at the ways you give appreciation, friendship, energy, time, love
and affection and give of your own special talents and abilities throughout.
Widen your consciousness.
Observe
deeply within and outside
Notice what happens when you are
amidst nature…….. in mountains…… near the sea. When you see a child
smiling…..when you see a flower blooming.
Observe
and reject what is vulgar
Reject what is vulgar and crude
in your own nature. Get in a comfortable position, close your eyes, breathe
deeply. Relax your body and mind. Recall a recent situation in which you didn’t
do what you wanted to do. Replay the scene in your mind, notice how you looked
and felt physically, emotionally and spiritually. Your inner being will tell
you what is to be rejected.
Learn
to be generous
As we outflow our loving energy,
we make room for more and more to flow in. And the more you share of your self,
the more you seem to get from the world. Giving becomes its own reward. Giving
to others comes not from the sense of sacrifice, self-righteousness but from a
full, loving space within you.
Control
one’s speech
One should be able to control one’s
speech. Words have their own power. If we use negative, crude, rude words, they
create negativity around in the environment. Be discrete in using unnecessary
words – that includes gossiping, using sarcastic, taunting words. They feed
negativity in you which stops your growth to be a loving, strong, peaceful,
happy person.
Choose
words carefully
One should practice to use words
which are loving, kind, pure, beautiful and generous.
Learn
to appreciate all the art forms like music, painting, dance, sculpture etc.
Music exerts a strong influence
on our consciousness. It feeds our innermost emotions of joy and sorrow. It
soothes our nerves and washes our tension. Melody, harmony and rhythm are food
to the spirit; it brings out the strength of the soul.
Insight into a painting comes from the way
it affects our inner feelings, more than by a process of intellectual analysis.
Imagination will often carry us to the worlds that never were, but without we
go nowhere.
“What
art offers is space…….. a certain breathing room for the spirit.”[5]
Dance has a therapeutic influence
on our being. Dance helps in connecting us with our inner being. It helps to
shed our inhibitions.
- Neera Parakh