The scent of Beauty

I think beauty can be lots of things. It can be internal qualities that draw us to an individual, such as kindness or grace. Beauty can also be external; qualities that are aesthetically attractive to us, such as However, what we find beautiful doesn’t always fit one set of standards. While I may find a roaring ocean beautiful in its sublime power, another may find it dangerous and frightening. 

However, that which is dangerous has its own form of beauty, just as that which we may not notice has its own beauty. An old, weathered cup we use everyday, the sprawling hills of Sleepy Hollow: we see and use these often, and as a result have stopped seeing their beauty, allowing them instead to dissolve into the background.

To me, that which is beautiful is that which brings me peace. The smell of sweet, dry pine needles and blackberries in the summer floating in on a hot August breeze is beautiful to me- it smells like summer, a scent of complete contentedness. It smells like a dry, sweaty trail ride, legs and lungs burning as I break out of the forest.

The smell of wet concrete and humid air also is beautiful. Rain in winter, which I now value even more in how rare it has become, makes me feel content. The safety of being cozy indoors in rain, and the sense of adventure of being outdoors each bring me happiness. Rain dripping off trees, my tires tearing through puddles splattering my back with a rooster’s tail of mud. It is in moments such as these where I feel alive, exhilarated, happy. These scents, these memories and feelings, when I remember them, bring me happiness, and to me, that is beauty.