Blog #13 (La Bella Vita)

The quote “To regard beauty as a luxury adornment or social signifier was to miss the true potential of the experience” is regarding the two powerful psychological drives that Schiller expands on in Armstrong’s article. The luxury adornment piece is speaking to the ‘sense’ drive which seeks immediate gratification. It craves contact and possession, to live in the moment and take it all in. The social signifier piece is speaking to the ‘form’ drive which is the inner demand for coherence over time, for abstract understanding and rational order. These two drives need to balance each other out, one not dominating over the other. Because if one does, it misses the true potential of the experience like Armstrong states. Additionally, he states, “If the sense drive dominates, we become brutish and superficial. If the form drive is too dominant, we become dry and callous” (Armstrong:3). We need to have these two drives interact equally to really identify and see the true beauty that is all around us. Beauty I believe is all around us. It could be am mountain in nature or it could be someone holding the door for you. I agree with Armstrong when he says, “…we can’t just talk about the things we find beautiful. We have to talk about our lives” (Armstrong:2). It more than just simply regarding something as beautiful. It’s the connection you make to your inner self to what you really think is beautiful. And today throughout social media, I think we are finding beauty in the wrong things. I do believe some people capture beauty the right way, but it’s important that we concentrate on these two drives that Armstrong speaks about. To not miss the true potential of a beautiful experience but to embrace this experience as it elevates the soul.