“Fragile Beauty” Speech at November 2021 CSC Event (excerpt)

Beauty lies in the center of two opposites. The Ancient Greeks called this concept “Ariston” meaning the best, the most beautiful. For them, however, the beauty was not the shiniest, or the biggest, or the brightest. Instead, the Ancient Greeks believed that beauty occupied the middle ground between simplistic and overly done. Universal recognition of their architecture is a great example where beauty is a fine sense of proportion defined by balance and harmony.

Beauty is an objective truth that is easily recognized and understood by a person of any age or walk of life. Beauty can be found anywhere: a beauty of speech, beauty of nature, beauty in a Mother’s love for her child. Beauty is not simple or perfect, but rather simply perfect.

The most remarkable to me is the beauty of the universe and our very existence. How perfectly balanced is the position of the Earth, its constitution, its speed of rotation, and its revolution around the sun. To change any of these precise conditions would mean a complete catastrophe — the end to everything we know learned, or created. Yet it is still there, for millions of years in a perfect balance with the solar system and the broader universe. It seems so stable, yet it is so fragile.

This fragility could be quite threatening if we were to always consciously remember how fragile life is. How so very little we truly know about the universe… still. What can solve the fragility of the unknown is the interconnectivity of everything in the universe.

Connected through an invisible web, are the small events,  the laws of nature, our thoughts, and our actions all circling together through the orbits of our lives.

As a result, we influence everything around us. And if we’re to strive for the “Ariston,” which the Ancient Greeks would define as Balance, Harmony, Self-restraint, and Moderation, Collectively we would achieve the most perfect outcome for ourselves and the universe. Balance is the beauty. Master the balance and you will become the master of your universe.