The Narrow Path

"There is nothing in machinery, there is nothing in embankments and railways and iron bridges and engineering devices to oblige them to be ugly.  Ugliness is the measure of imperfection."

-- H.G. Wells (1866-1946), author

Is ugliness "the measure of imperfection," as Wells would have us believe?  Is the fact that something is ugly necessarily demanding imperfection?  Look at Wells' own statement and we can immediately see the flaw in his argument.  Everything he mentions was designed for function, not one of which necessarily demanded beauty, but all of which functions perfectly for the job intended.  Form and function is no guarantee of beauty, nor does the lack of beauty guarantee imperfection of function.

I look at the photo I took, above, in the engine room of the USS Alabama, and I see much beauty in the starkly industrial brass work, steel, and iron.  Perfection?  The USS Alabama still floats as a monument, and museum, to its mission and the sailors who manned her; imperfectly beautiful in her design to perfectly accomplish her task.  Today, any fantasy writer cum artist would probably be right at home in the bowels of this ship, while they hammered out some glorious "steampunk" novel or painting, all the while marveling at all the "ugliness" around them and thinking to themselves how beautifully perfect a muse this retro, industrial, machine look is for their art.

Sometimes we tend to narrow our path forward as we search for some illusive sense of beauty and "perfection" in our lives.  At times perfection is necessary in order to meet certain parameters required for efficiency.  But, beauty, per the examples Wells uses, is not necessary for this efficient perfection, any more than perfection is a necessity for beauty.  Whereas perfection is gauged objectively, beauty is subjective.  Beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.

“No human face is exactly the same in its lines on each side, no leaf perfect in its lobes, no branch in its symmetry. All admit irregularity as they imply change; and to banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality. All things are literally better, lovelier, and more beloved for the imperfections which have been divinely appointed, that the law of human life may be Effort, and the law of human judgment, Mercy.”

-- John Ruskin (1819-1900), art critic, draughtsman, social thinker

We should be wary of narrowing the path we tread.  The narrower our path gets, the more apt we are to spend most of our time watching where we step, instead of enjoying our journey.  The longer we travel the narrow path, the more apt we are to forget the reason for our journey.  But, if you keep your eye only on the prize, life will pass by around you without notice.  Be aware of the prize and continue to move toward it on a broad path, casually gathering the keys necessary to claim it along the way.  If you just speed toward the goal you may find you arrive without a clue, that is, if you understand you've arrived at all.  If you arrive without any understanding, it would be like your first time rebuilding an engine and realizing you've left the tools behind.  If you arrive without a clue, well, like my uncle says, you'd feel like a pig looking at a wristwatch.  Unfortunately, you'd probably look like one too.

We get nowhere without focusing on the task at hand, but if we become too focused we can find ourselves short and argumentative with those around us.  If we don't recognize this in ourselves and let it go unabated, we run the real risk of alienating even those that care.

“Instead of focusing on how much you can accomplish, focus on how much you can absolutely love what you're doing.”

-- Leo Babauta, Time magazine "Top 25" blogger

Personally, I think it is good to keep your path broad, the majority of the time, staying aware of everything, and everyone, around you.  In this way you won't miss the love, camaraderie, and beauty along your journey and you won't adopt a self-centered attitude where, everything is always about you but you're the only one that doesn't know it.  Try to un-focus on your goals often enough that you don't become a slave to them.  Take this down time to make sure you don't forget just why you have these goals.  It is never about what the goals are, but why you have them.  For instance, it does little good to alienate those you love while you're focused entirely on goals for those you love.  Doing this, you will find yourself achieving your goals and having no one to share them with, or to appreciate your achievements.  What fun.

"Too much self-centered attitude, you see, brings, you see, isolation. Result: loneliness, fear, anger. The extreme self-centered attitude is the source of suffering."

-- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

A broader path with less focus may not be perfect, it may not even lead to perfection,  and it may even be ugly.  Sometimes perfection isn't all it's cracked up to be, and sometimes ugly can be perfection in disguise. Like the old battleship, she may not be pretty to look at, but piss her off and she will be beautiful to watch as she kicks some butt.

I think everyone needs to get comfortable with the fact that sometimes life can be much happier and robust if you let a whole bunch of ugly into it.  As long as the ugly is good, what can it really hurt?  You might even find that, the less attractive, it can be just what the doctor ordered.  It, or they, just might just get the job done.  Who's to say that, less than attractive, person giving you the once over, might just be what you've been looking for in all the wrong places.  Hey, sometimes love ain't pretty, but it works.  Broaden those horizons!

"Beautiful people are not always good, but good people are always beautiful."

-- Ali ibn Abi Talib (599-661)

Editor's Note:  

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion.  It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other.  An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth.  After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human.  God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.
  

Pastor Frank Anthony Villari

Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."