Beauty

As my Brigham Young University undergraduate education is nearing an end, an important question has manifested itself and many have asked, "Are you worried you're graduating without being married?" Normally, this wouldn't be such a recurrent question but as dating dynamics are different at BYU, it is quite conventional. Naturally I wouldn't be too concerned about this question; however, Ralph Waldo Emerson disturbs me when he said, "The radiance of the human form, though sometimes astonishing, is only a burst of beauty for a few years or a few months, at the perfection of youth, and in most, rapidly declines." If beauty rapidly declines in most, maybe I should be more concerned in my pursuit for an eternal companion in order to find her before she reaches the tail end of her "burst." So back to the question, why aren't I married? In order to answer this question, it is important to understand what is necessary in a companion. People claim, true beauty is inner beauty and to some degree, I agree. But what really is beauty? Who decides what or who is beautiful? Is beauty objective? Beauty is hard to define, but we know it is antithetical to ugliness. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting." So can we conclude that beauty is determined by interest and that an interesting person is beautiful? I have found that uninteresting people are not attractive. They may be aesthetically pleasing but their company is not especially desired. Others argue that beauty is something we can not have. 'The grass is always greener on the other side.' To this Emerson questioned, "If I could put my hand on the north star, would it be as beautiful?" To remedy this dilemma, people counsel to lower your standards but in any endeavor should we be counseled to settle for less than our potential? There is a difference in settling and realizing your potential; however, executing is always harder than talking. When are we settling and when are we failing to reach our potential? Am I waiting to reach my potential or am I erroneous in the necessity to settle?

Pick-Up Lines Gone Bad

Approximately 8 months ago I ate lunch in BYU's cafeteria, the Cougareat in the Wilkinson Center. As I ate, I noticed a fairly attractive girl eating lunch with her friend (also a girl). As I pondered strategies and techniques to approach this girl, two men came up to me inviting me to a party that Friday night. This was my inspiration. I created a plan of attack. I presented my proposal to a peer for critique and after I had worked out all glitches, it was time to implement my plan. I decided to be a promoter of this party for a cheap excuse to talk to these lovely ladies. I neared them, got their attention and with flyer in hand asked if they had already heard about the party that Friday? Obviously they had but this was only an excuse to start conversation. I proceeded, asking if they were planning on going. "No," they quickly responded. Luck would have it that I had anticipated this response and quickly turned the party flyer over. There written was a name and a number, my name and my number. "Well call if you want to do something fun then," was my sole explanation as I left the flyer on the table, walking away to never look back. My strides were long that day as I crossed the Wilkinson commons. My expectations weren't high that day and that small ounce of hope that she'd call wasn't what held my head high; I knew I had a personal triumph. I would probably never see that girl again or at least one would think and I had "left it all on the field." I had done my best to carpe diem. Coincidently, I did see this young lady a few times in passing, to and from classes. Never did she acknowledge me and I did not wish to make her feel awkward, as it was probably a common event for guys to hit on her. Time passed, spring led to summer, and she was never to be seen. Summer's leaves fell in the fall air and my new class schedule led to a surprise. Real Analysis led to straight to her. Not only was she in my class, but she sat by my friend. As common courtesy would have it, I had the obligation to sit near my friend which led to a very awkward encounter with this mystery woman. I have had my fair share of uncomfortable moments so I knew it would take more than one class to perturb me. And thus it was so... Not only was she in my Math class but my Econ class too. How could this happen? Two classes in one semester, no, I couldn't believe it. All I had left was my personal life as she had already penetrated my academic life in both of my majors. But fate is fate, and on that same Monday I stumbled across her yet again. FHE, there she was, in my ward too. My only refugee gone, stolen from me.