Beauty

Do you see the trees?

Do you see the pretty trees?

I see the green trees.

I have a friend who is color blind who came up with this haiku as we were walking through the woods.    He informed me that sometimes he feels that he can't fully appreciate the beauty in nature because he can't differentiate the colors, but at the same time he feels that he is experiencing more beauty because he is seeing the nature in a way that nobody else sees it.  

This conversation made me begin to think about the definition of beauty.  When speaking about humans, most cultures have their own definition of beauty.  Americans find facial symmetry attractive unless it is 100% symmetrical, we also find tanned skin attractive.  Other cultures try to maintain pale skin tones as a form of beauty.  Yet other cultures stretch their necks gradually with metal rings to be considered beautiful. 

 Dictionary.com says that beauty is 

"The quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind,whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)."

Basically beauty is a matter of opinion.  Beauty is what you want it to be.  Beauty is God's creation.  No matter what you look like, you are a creation of the one true God.  He made you just the way you are.  You are beautiful.  The world around you is beautiful.  The people around you are beautiful.  See the beauty in the world today the way that you want to see it, but make sure that you see it.