I don’t normally do this, but I found this text conversation very comforting, as one of my dear friends randomly opened up a huge question before us. It ended up being a realization about friendship.
Rogie : Seriously, in your opinion, what makes a person beautiful?
Marchesa : Humility and service. When someone gives of themselves selflessly and helps people.
Rogie : Amen to that
Marchesa : Why
Rogie : Its a good topic of conversation/discussion. Also a good self evaluation. SELFLESSLY is the key
Perze : being selfless is different from being beautiful . I’ll stick with the quote: beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Marchesa : That’s too general. But personally, if you’re asked what connotes beauty to you, it becomes subjective
Perze : This jeep can’t be selfless but Rogie will think it’s beautiful. That’s why it’s in the eye of the beholder
Marchesa : The question was mr Perze, what makes a person beautiful
Perze : there’s “generic” standards of beauty
Marchesa : I think it was meant to be a personal subjective question
Perze : A blind person would describe beauty differently
Marchesa : He’s not asking a blind person. He asked you
Perze : He didn’t ask me. He asked us
Marchesa : What makes someone beautiful to you. Lols. Ya but I answered ?
Perze : So is it collective subjective? Or is it still personal subjective?
Marchesa : Personal
Perze : I think people who don’t stop learning are beautiful
Marchesa : Ok. I’ll go learn new recipes today
Perze : It also depends on context. if you are stuck in an island with only another person, your perception of beauty changes. that’s the other thing … Beauty as truth or beauty as perception. will beauty change? Is it fleeting? Or is it immortal? Should beauty stand the test of time?
Marchesa : I think those things are “presently” irrelevant if the question is simply, “what do you find beautiful in a person?” You are not answering for yourself 20years from now. You are answering for what you know of yourself. Of course that may change but that’s not the question
Perze : do you think it’s easier to answer the question about ugliness than beauty?
Rogie : Lol
Marchesa : oh i can answer that. purely subjectively of course
Rogie : This escalated
Perze : Still subjective
Marchesa : lols. this is how we show love
Perze : I think hitler tried to answer that ugliness question
Marchesa : ok rogie. what makes a person ugly
Rogie : Hmmm. To answer my original question first. I also think that humility is beautiful . Integrity is beautiful
Marchesa : ?
Rogie : As i got older i found it more the character of the person more beautiful and more important than their looks
Marchesa : agreed. 100%
Perze : these are core beliefs
Rogie : So you can be sooo beautiful from the outside but so rotten inside . Thats uglyness
Perze : beauty as a physical manifestation vs a characteristic
Marchesa : agreed. i think what attracts us to other people are essentially what we prioritize as “beautiful”
Rogie : Yup
Marchesa : i guess that’s how we end up choosing our friends as we get older…
Rogie : So true
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Discussion Questions:
1. What makes a person beautiful (TO YOU)?
2. What makes them ugly?