Where is Beauty Found?

 by Charlotte Bennardo

Beauty is as beauty does...

That means that beauty isn't only perfection; there is beauty in imperfection. 

Take the Japanese art of kintsugi, or kintsukuroi, translated at "golden joinery". It's defined as the art of repairing broken pottery, like teacups, vases, plates, bowls, etc. by not hiding the broken edges, but enhancing them, usually through the use of powdered precious metals like gold, platinum, or silver. 

Photo courtesy of www.gencyorumdergisi.com 

The broken pieces, with the gold, create an intricate, unfettered, unique design. There is beauty in that new appearance.

Take the human face, lined with wisdom, age, experience. It has its own beauty that comes from life:

Photo by Nashua Volquez-Young: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-wearing-red-hat-and-sunglasses-1729931/

Now think of a mosaic artwork. A stunning visual showing beauty that can be expressed through the use of broken pieces of tile, glass, stone, or ceramics.

Photo by Mikita Yo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/rooftop-of-casa-batllo-17686978/

Beauty is not perfection, but seeing the perfect expression of beauty in whatever form it takes. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, and paranormal genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has two short stories in the Beware the Little White Rabbit (Alice through the Wormhole) and Scare Me to Sleep (Faces in the Wood) anthologies. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned and is working on several children's and adult novels, along with some short stories. She lives in NJ with her family and her floofy cat. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out, but she is happy to report she has a new squirrel tenant along with a new pet rabbit (Bad Bunny).