“Beauty is pain.” This popular proverb may have been more insightful than intended. To be deemed “beautiful” comes with some raised expectation from society that they will perform, amuse onlookers, and excel in life. Those who fall short in this category fly under the radar leading normal, functional lives without pressure of a spotlight blinding their eyes from the glory of a non-glamorized present. They contribute as valuable members of society, good family and business people, and relinquish in old age satisfied with having led a pedestrian, peaceful life.
Every soul has dysfunction. Perhaps it is that dysfunction that is especially capitalized in the beautiful; savage enviers look to rip a page out of an otherwise perfect novel. Once the page has been torn the perpetrator goes on their merry way without second thought of the detriment they have caused, while the piece of art is left to carry on wounded and incomplete. Beauty then takes on a new form articulated through flaw, but not without grief. It is up to the individual to find their way through this metamorphosis and renounce their poise.
