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Blog #13

“To regard beauty as a luxury adornment or a social signifier was to miss the true potential of the experience.” (John Armstrong, La bella vita) Beauty should be regarded as part of life. Beauty should not be taken for granted but it does not declare one’s class. Yes, those with more money may be able to afford more “beautiful” things such as clothes, and cars, but that does not show their beauty within. John Armstrong states, “many loathsome people own beautiful things, and the possession of these objects does not seem to make them more humane or especially gracious.” I feel that in our society, beauty is depicted in material objects. I feel many people refuse to see beauty the way I do and choose only to see beauty in their material objects.

Throughout my life, I struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. I grew to hate who I was and so two years ago I decided to change my life and leave drugs and alcohol behind. During my addiction, I grew so vein and I only saw beauty in the material world. When things got worse, I could not see beauty anywhere. When I stepped into recovery, I was finally able to see beauty again. The beauty I began to see was in other people, the good they were doing, and in the way that I, and so many others, was finally able to find hope in life. Every day I see women and men fight against a growing, horrifying epidemic and are able to find happiness and peace. That to me is beautiful. Seeing others recover and being able to be a part of their process of recovery as a sponsor, and a staff member at a treatment facility, is the beauty that I am given in life.

1 thought on “Blog #13

  1. I LOVE how powerful your connection is with this text. It can feel so crazy to seek beauty in the “material world” and come up dissatisfied! I wonder if you could brainstorm ways to help recovering addicts use beauty as one of many tools to help them continue to heal.

    Great work and thank you so much for sharing!

    3/3

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