Within
the
S h a d o ws
Beauty is life. It is not merely a word to describe someone, or something, but rather an idea which is alive, growing throughout time, developing, evolving, into something new. It is a natural progression as we discover new forms of life and along with discovery of ourselves and our species, the perception of beauty changes. However, when we look back, beauty starts to rapidly change as we begin to control light within our worlds. The western influences upon the world have been rapidly seeking out the imperfections within life, wasting away with anything they deem unnecessary or unattractive. Resting in the corner, components which made up our lives for thousands of year are being slowly swept away into the cold abyss, engulfed in a so called natural progression.
As
they gradually disappear into the darker world, another form of beauty is found within the shadows. We discover beauty of our elders, humans who lived in a world of soft, gentle light. As the sun would set darkness grew, only to be filled with a faint flick and glimmer of fire, seamlessly casting shadows upon the faces of those within its grasp. As the ominous glow of the flame would stretch out across the room, it begins to suggest details across the faces of those it deems desirable. In the room void of natural light, the flare creates life upon the living, showing us the beauty to be found upon the details of the natural world.
Gone are simpler ways and into complex, compound ideas to recreate and refashion what is true and new. We have moved on from a natural world and into one of comforts, embracing, warm, quiet and bright. The human mind is cunning and can play tricks on the soul for we have fashioned ways to trick ourselves into comfort and pleasure. For years mankind has survived and lived within the natural environment with each man and woman a purpose to live by. To survive in the fragile world. But now we can deceive ourselves into happiness. A careful illusion played on a grand scale, carefully pulling a blind fold over our heads. One day we may wake up, and our world gone, but us none the wiser. When will we wake to the world around us, the rolling hills, the gentle trickle of water and the glowing blossom of flowers, all creating a harmonious environment for us to live, but instead we chose to encase ourselves in the life set before us. Courage is a word so seldom used in the modern age, for it takes courage to stray away from condition path of life, but it is courage we so desperately need.
The beauty of the traditional Japanese woman does not discard nature from its outlook, but rather embrace the likely change ahead. Instead of grasping at light to create pure beauty, the Japanese woman relishes in the shadows, embracing the natural world to create her own beauty. It is here, within these shadows that the eye can see depth. As light is cast across human flesh, shadows are projected upon shadows to create a level detail unseen anywhere else in the natural world. Light playfully dances across the skin, giving a sense of movement to an otherwise stagnate object. Contrasting to the still, soulless skin of the western woman, were skin appear flat and devoid of any life the Japanese woman feel alive, and true as she embraces the world she lives in, rather than trying to fight against it.
Change
is inevitable, it marks the progress of our species, a timeline if you will. I do not intend to try and inhibit change, but rather reinforce the morals of those that walked the earth before us. We enter a time of great uncertainty, existing in a time of hostility. However it is during this time that we must not forget were we have come from in order to move forward. In the darkness of the shadows that follow us, we must explore, indulge and examine to truly find our way through the darkness that lay before us. For as we look forward we stare deep into the dark depths of the unknown, but as we look back we can see our shadow, the life we evolved from and it is here we will find our greatest lesson.