Je ne sais quoi – “I know not what.”
As in: “A beautiful woman, with a certain je ne sais quoi about her.”
Is something more beautiful or more meaningful if we lack the ability to put it into words or numbers? Or is there a clearer kind of beauty in concrete language and mathematics? Do we confuse the mysterious with the profound?
What do you find beautiful? Deep? Meaningful? Can you describe it in words or calculate it in numbers? Is it worth trying?
I can see both sides of the argument – but what I’d like to see now is your side. Your take. What do you think?
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I love a snowy winters morning at 5 am, there's a cool wind blowing, the snow gently falls and blurs the orange glow from the street lights. The beauty and serenity is almost tangible, it's almost like a taste on the tip of my tongue and the feeling of peace is just………well…… it just is……..there's definitely a certain Je Ne Sais Quoi about that.
What I find beautiful is the sight of a mother lovingly cuddling her child and gazing into his / her eyes.
I saw this twice today and both times I found myself in a different and deep space:-)
I guess it is a deep and simple expression of love but I can't explain why it touches me so deelpy.
It's worth trying. And worth enjoying the failure.
Unfortunately, Steven, I've lived my entire life in Texas, so I haven't exactly had the experience you're describing … but it sounds wonderful nonetheless.
A tangible serenity … that's a beautiful way to put it.
Twice in one day … perhaps it's a message, Arvind :)
Do you think that feeling of admiration and beauty is something that could be enhanced by “explaining” it? Or does trying to explain the feeling ruin it?
I can identify with that, LPC. Whenever I feel a particularly poignant emotion, I find myself asking: “What is it that I feel exactly? How would I describe this in prose?” Perhaps it's the writer in me clamoring for attention.
Do any examples come to mind for you?
Definitely a message there somewhere for me Jeffrey – maybe I am being brooding:-)
I do think that trying to explain the feeling would lessen the experience – I would rather just enjoy the feeling and be totally present to it instead of allowing my all too analytic mind to kick in.
I am reminded of Richard Feynman's “Ode on a Flower” in which he discusses “adding to the excitement” of nature by deeply understanding it.
http://embodiedtalk.blogspot.com/2007/12/8-feyn...
Beauty is something that we allow ourselves to trigger a certain feeling within us. So we can attach that label to nearly anything or nothing if we want. Interesting enough that I cover the aspect of beauty in my latest post. So here is my essence – Beauty is not in the object, but in the viewer.
http://www.unwrapyourmind.com/unwrapped-the-fou...
Ocean waves crashing and receding, the infiniteness of the sea. That's meaningful, profound, deep to me. But it's essentially unknowable; I can't fully articulate it with concrete language. And I'm glad of that. When I'm there I'm in the realm of image, metaphor, intuition, deeper consciousness. Language can only take us so far.
Beauty from today: a street lined with blazing, autumn trees, back-lit by a blue sky, softened with clumps of white fog.
I have my own answer, but I don't think its up to me to tell others what they should and should not find valuable. If something touches you awesome! If you have something specific to chase awesome! Enjoy
I have narrated my own life to myself since I was about 8. What I find, however, is that sometimes I have to stop talking to myself and start listening to the universe. That's when I experience a sense of beauty that in itself I can't communicate. But it provokes me to communicate more clearly about those things that are in the territory of words.
Oh my god. I'm not crazy after all! I thought I was the only one who narrated my own life. Does that interior monologue get in the way of being receptive? I hadn't really thought about that. But it might.
I wonder what it is about the ocean that just seems to attract people? I get that same feeling of wonder when looking out at any grand vista – the feeling that there's so much out there waiting for me.
Haha. I remember when I was about 4 or 5, and I realized that the little voice in my head was called “thinking”. At least, that's what I told myself what it was at the time. ;-P
I've heard that it's ok to talk to yourself. It's even ok to answer yourself. What's bad is when you turn around to yourself and say, “huh”?
Things that are beautiful to me make me cry. From a good movie, to a bittersweet love story, to a certain kind of old man sitting on a bench outside a Southern store, chewing tobacco and wearing overalls. And I can't really explain why, except that it got worse after I had my son, so it must be mixed in with mommy hormones. But the things that remind me of home, the things that remind me of my blessings, and the things that take me back to the happy and sad moment of my life. Those are the ones. The beautiful moments.
Sounds like you might have a personal experience with that last bit, Leighann :) But yeah, I talk to myself ALL the time. Not sure if that's good or bad.
watching a slow steady rain washing through any thoughts of,the science,reason,and the unknowing of knowing,The clarity of just witnessing,the je ne sais quoi.Thanks