my room

As far as I can tell, beauty is a state of mind, independent of the things that we associate with the awakening of this feeling. No object is inherently ugly or beautiful.


However, some things seem to be more adequate at bringing out this state of mind than others. I've heard this being described as the "significant form" of an entity. The degree to which something is seen to possess significant form differs from individual to individual.


Because beauty is ultimately a state of mind, I don't think that it is entirely necessary to consciously surround ourselves with things that we'd call beautiful. We can still live a life in which this state of mind exists without having to be surrounded by significant form. At least, that used to be my excuse for leaving my room in a state of complete squalor...


But it is a lot easier to live well when you don't have to constantly fight for it. I took home some of the star pegs we dug out of the ground when building the alpaca fence at Matcham. I've been collecting mossy twigs, silver-gum leaves and bamboo fronds. I love the way my room looks right now.