“The most beautiful bodies are like transparent glass.” – Czesław Miłosz

1. “The most beautiful bodies are like transparent glass.” This was sitting in my journal and I didn’t know what to do with it, so now it’s here. At first, we think of luminous, youthful skin that plays with light. Our sensuality isn’t always just hormones pumping, though it can feel that way. It is really the want to have a dream and complete it. We’re not sure what lies beyond that skin, but we know we want to evaluate, understand, maybe even appreciate closely. The more cynical who manipulate for sex, or those who just want their one night stand – they’re not really focused on beauty as much as what they can get. In a sense, that’s not a dream: that’s the want to feel control. I can’t say that’s an entirely bad desire in a world where we often feel unanchored, lost, purposeless.

2. Don’t we see people as beautiful for other reasons? I know there are women I can’t stand looking at because their personalities are so awful. Could someone who is beautiful for his/her mind have a beautiful body?

Again, “like transparent glass,” except the dream we want is more specific. We want to know we’re better: we see ourselves reflected well. How come more people don’t have this notion of beauty? How come people don’t want to hang around knowing, accomplished, graceful people? We could say they’ve rejected beauty as something to strive for. A lot of us want people to whom we can vent. We want others that might depend on us. Just like feeling in control, these are necessary desires. They’re not bad, not at all. But they reemphasize just how much “The most beautiful bodies are like transparent glass.” They’re very easy to miss in everyday life.