An Aesthetic Life: Return to Stillness

The catch-phrase living an ‘aesthetic life’ has soared in social media popularity in 2024. Aesthetics refer to the appreciation of beauty: How strongly does social media depict the need to chase a dazzling life, a satisfied mind and a ripped body? In society’s desperate search for contentment, we often neglect the very place that beauty deeply resides: stillness.

Aesthetic: Exploring the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty.
Miriam webster dictionary

Maybe the booming popularity of ‘aesthetic’ is a reflection of our hunger for authentic and everyday beauty.

Tired of masks and the stress of life, we are exhaling after a few years of tight regulations. We want what is real. And maybe, we’ve forgotten how to feel.

Where do we find beauty? We return to stillness.

For now, life is still, and now is bathed in light. And that is a gift – the light in the stillness. When life is still, I catch distant memories more deeply. Beautiful recollected moments fall on my heart and blur through my mind, and all the small, delicate days of childhood are more golden and crimson. In the stillness, beauty is unwrapped: the sun is a gift, the sky is a blanket of hope, the colours of the leaves dance in shimmering stillness. Wonder and delight increase our capacity for joy, too, and life is more beautiful.

In contrast, there have been seasons in life that are full and crammed; how easily stress infuses itself into life when life is rushed. In these busy seasons, we resist the slow pace of life. And in resisting slowness, I realise how often we are afraid of stillness. We are afraid of others perceptions of us in slowing down or we are afraid of of coming to terms of how we are actually doing, or perhaps we fear encountering God’s voice.

I’m forever learning that stillness is healing, opening and invigorating to the mind and soul. More importantly, we are more attuned to God’s voice as we silence the world’s voices.

The media shouts, instagram is reeling with superficiality; everyone seems to be chasing followers and fame. And yet, aren’t we all tired of the noise? Slow down and soak in a still place. May you soak up and wonder at the stillness of life’s moments, and find pure effervescent joy in doing so.