Pursuing Everyday Beauty
Written by Anna Baldwin
Some of my favorite people on campus are those who tell you to look at the moon or pay attention to the leaves growing on the trees in the springtime. I love people who get excited about a sunny day or seeing a squirrel. There’s no need to fall into a poetic reverie in order to call out beautiful things. Most of the time, a simple “Hey, look at that,” is enough to call out beauty.
Yet the idea of beauty sometimes seems like such an inaccessible concept, or something best suited for the high thoughts of the classroom. The practice or cultivation of beauty in personal life feels more practical, but I tend to think of it as a part of life after college. What is the place of beauty in a dorm room, on a college student budget, within a busy student schedule? Isn’t that kind of thing easier and more appropriate for another season of life?
This year at Curate, the annual women’s summit held at the College, Caroline Greb, ’21, spoke on the importance of beauty and beauty-making. At the beginning of her speech she asked us to reflect on the question, “What keeps you from creating beauty wherever you like, and why?” As we shared our thoughts, answers such as “time,” “resources,” or “I’m not creative enough,” came up repeatedly. Caroline encouraged us that despite these excuses, “Beauty deserves a place in our lives.” Beauty-making is something we must foster as a discipline, and not as icing on the cake. Caroline walked us through several ways to engage in the discipline of beauty, such as art, music, decorating, or dress, and encouraged us to practice them in our daily lives, even in small or seemingly mundane ways.
If beauty is important to life in the “real world,” then it must be important to life now, even at school. College is a special and unique time, but it isn’t a separate part of life altogether. So, after attending Curate and reflecting on Caroline’s speech, I began to look for beauty in college life.
Clean spaces make room for beauty. Caroline pointed out the importance of cleanliness, for even in a well-arranged closet or organized backpack, we find great beauty and satisfaction in order. For example, I always admire those of my fellow students who can take thorough yet ordered notes with perfect handwriting. This made me wonder: If beauty existed in such a practical thing, where else might it be awaiting discovery?
Once I started looking, I found subtle beauties everywhere. I thought about my talented story-telling friends whom I love to run into on campus because they always have a tale to share. I thought about the times I came to my dorm room late at night only to stay up even later swapping stories from the day with my roommate. We made our little dorm into a grand theater by recreating encounters in the dining hall, reliving experiences in the library, and acting out funny moments from class.
I noticed, too, that lots of women around campus love to practice beauty through clothing and dress. My roommate in particular is knowledgeable about historical dress and loves to discuss the philosophy of what we wear and how we adorn ourselves. Other students have perfected the art of the salad bar or the sandwich station. In just a few minutes they can whip up the most beautiful cuisine in the dining hall.
Recently, the girls in my dorm did a room tour so we could admire the different ways we arranged and decorated our dorm rooms. I loved walking around and seeing the creativity in each space. Every room had the same furniture and floor plan, and yet not one room was decorated alike. Every poster, painting, and plant seemed a tiny testament to each girl who made a home out of a room.
I found a new appreciation for the dried wildflowers hanging above my bed in my dorm room, the Emily Dickinson poems taped above my desk, the doodles and sketches surrounding my notebooks, the dramatized stories from daily life swapped with my friends, and all our attempts to create a restaurant-worthy salad in the dining hall.
It seemed then that maybe these things were not an optional part of my college life; as small as they might be, they could contribute to my life in a great way. If beauty is one ultimate purpose of the liberal arts, then all these small beauty-creating acts must be working alongside my academics to complete my education at Hillsdale.
Anna Baldwin, ’25, is from the countryside of Tennessee, where she spends her time managing her chickens and drinking coffee on the front porch. At Hillsdale, you can find her managing her assignments and drinking coffee at Penny’s.
Published in May 2023