Defining Beauty, Defining Art

Saturday, June 9, 2012

The Hubster and I at the 2012 Beautiful People Party*

With music, laughter and chatter pulsating through the air, I wander around the room searching for familiar faces and admiring chic outfits. I am surrounded by beautiful people.

Some of the guests at this party would be considered beautiful because of their gorgeous hair, flawless skin, or impeccable sense of style. Some have enviable figures, you know the kind that can get away with wearing those teeny tiny shorts that are so popular this time of the year. But tonight shouldn't be about any of that.

On this night, Thursday, June 7, Birmingham Magazine is hosting its annual Beautiful People Party to celebrate the two dozen residents selected to be featured in its annual Beautiful People issue. I'm here because my husband, Edward Bowser, was one of the people chosen this year.

My husband is the debonair fellow seated to the right. 


As you can see, my hubs is adorable and always dressed to impressed, but those things had little to do with why he was chosen. He and the others in the picture above were picked for their community service. Other people featured were selected for their creativity, entrepreneurship, or their love for the city. In other words, Birmingham Magazine understands the real meaning of beauty. A beautiful person is someone concerned about making the world around them a more beautiful place -- whether that's through art, business, or service.

As a writer all this thinking about how we define beauty led me to think about how we define art. What is real art? So much of the music, movies, and even books that are popular theses days are considered art by some but many would they're simply entertainment.

Does this mean art can't entertain? Of course not. I believe real art can entertain us, but I believe true art doesn't stop there. Just like the "Beautiful People" of Birmingham Magazine, true artists create music, paintings, films, works of literature, etc., that make the world a more beautiful place. And true artists do this by being inspiring. True art changes the people who encounter and understand it.

I want to create real art with my writing. Even here on this blog I want to craft each post so that you will leave this website not only feeling entertained and informed, also transformed, even if it is only in small, small way.

How do you define true beauty? How do you define real art?


*P.S. -- In case you were wondering, I got that awesome dress  for $19.99 from H&M!

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