You’ve heard it said, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Beauty is subjective.  Beauty is discovered within ourselves, and then projected outward.

And, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then so is ugly. Ugly is the antithesis, the opposite, of beauty.  Ugly and beauty are conjoined like two sides of one coin just as are all opposites, such as hot and cold, up and down, in and out.  One gives contrast and definition to the other. And ugly too, like beauty, is subjective, and  projected outward.

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it within us or we find it not.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

This collection of needs,  chronologically unfolding and age-based, is referred to as “the heirarchy of needs.”

Certainly, the need for sustenance is prevalent throughout the entire range of needs, as is the need for safety, but when consistently  satisfied, other needs arise.  Also, sustenance and safety are not limited to purely physical concerns; there are needs for psyche sustenance and psyche  safety, as well as socio sustenance  and socio safety.

Although this collection of 7 Needs is considered heirarchical, it is also interwoven. Even the lower level needs such as control and esteem are influenced by the higher level needs, such as the need for knowledge and beauty.

When higher needs are not satisfied, there is  psyche-logical malaise in much the same way physical deterioration is the result of neglect. Malaise is like a slow psyche-logical starvation.

It’s helpful to recognize our higher level psyche-socio developmental needs. It can add to one’s sense of direction,  meaning and purpose.

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One of the most delightful affirmations, or perhaps a prayer, I have ever heard is this excerpt from the Navajo Beauty Way Ceremony…