True Beauty

What is true beauty? Where does true beauty come from. Many question pondered my head as I listened to a specific part of a podcast from John Green about Agnes Martin.

The part that stook out to me the most was the story about Agnes Martin and her 11 year old granddaughter, Isobel. Agnes Martin sees Isobel outside holding onto a rose she found on the bush. Agnes Martin asks Isobel, “Is this rose really beautiful?” Isobel responds, “yes.” Agnes then proceeds to ask Isobel the same question again, but with the rose hidden behind her back. Isobel once again says “yes.” Agnes then says, “ You see, Isobel. Beauty is in your mind, not in the rose.”

This line of dialogue from Agnes and Isobel really teaches a lot of us a lesson. Agnes tells us that true beauty “is in the mind, not the eye.” This was the first time that I heard this. When I first heard this, I wondered what this really meant. After some time trying to understand this message, I finally realized how beautiful this message was. Agnes Martin tells us that beauty is a state of the mind, not a state of the body. When you are selfless, your body portrays the beauty that lies within you.