An affliction so deadly....

An author once wrote "...and when I saw him, suddenly I realised that I'm infected with that most deadly of all affliction - beauty.."  I can't recall his name at the moment, but his words are fresh in my mind as if I read it just some minutes ago.

Ahh yes.. now I remember.  His name is Gordon Merrick.  I've read 5 of his 11 published works.  Although most are syrupy sweet in his description of "love that dare not speak it's name",  there are brilliant snatches of intense moments that you can cherish for life.  And despite the numerous cliches liberally splattered across all his chapters, I like the singular innocence of his characters in facing life's challenges.

I read those novels by Mr.Merrick a couple of decades ago.  The thing is, they managed to make me feel like a virginal young schoolboy fully ripe and anxiously awaiting for that great first love of his lifetime to come by.  And to think I was already in my post middle-age trauma..  The caressing strokes of his words and style enveloped me as if in a trance.

My apologies, but I digressed from what little I want to say.

Like many countless others all over the world, I also suffer from this common yet immensely dangerous affliction.  It is all-pervasive and can threaten your very existence.  And why not : all the commercials and tv series you see nowadays are filled to the brim with urgent messages to adore and worship and die for beauty..

We want everything to be pretty and cute and beautiful and perfect.  Even the simple thumbdrives to sneakers and even drinking cups need to be pretty to look at, nevermind its performance or practicality.  Every advertisement screams at you to buy their "perfectly beautiful" product.  It's beauty, beauty, beauty everywhere, but never a prettiness in sight.

You know the overused saying "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"?  Or what about this one - "beauty is skin deep"?  Going by all the bombardment we are given every single day in every place for every known product, services and even emotions to adore beauty, it seems those two phrases are at best just excuses for those not up to the mark for beauty.

But at what cost beauty?

It's not for me to say.  But just think of all the extent to which people through the ages have gone through to be "beautiful".  The agonies more often than not outweigh the ecstasy.  Sure, there are some very fortunate ones, and they are the ones getting the accolades.  But what about those who failed to achieve their objectives to be acceptably beautiful?

Beauty is big business.  Just look around you and you can see the staggering amount of persuasive advertisements, promotions, displays, merchandise, contests and such, all determined to make you want to be "beautiful" in some little way.  And just when you think you have achieved that little something, the standards of beauty change, and you are back to square one..

It makes me ponder something..  When you think about the time, effort, energy, and money so many people spend to make themselves look and feel beautiful, very few take the trouble to make their hearts beautiful for others.  It doesn't take much, but the beauty others can see of that in you is surely priceless.

Me.. I am contented to be an Ugly Betty.  For without the uglies, there can be no beauties.  There isn't light if there is no darkness.  What is love if there wasn't hatred.  And there won't be life if there isn't death to end it all.