Have you ever looked at something (a piece of art, a person, a picture, or even a building) and had a very different response to its aesthetic than during a previous encounter? It happens to me all the time, my dear reader. Artistic creations that used to move me to tears can somehow become ordinary. Or pictures of dear friends from the past can be seen with a whole new lens that makes formerly average things seem beautiful, almost remarkable.
So, if the same thing generates a different reaction at different points in time, the only thing I am able to conclude is that it is I, the beholder, that has changed. And in so doing, all the things around me get reshaped and reformed over time.
And the same can be true for other senses, like taste. There are many treats I used to eat regularly that would turn my stomach today…and vice versa, there are many delectable goodies I enjoy presently that my younger self would have scoffed at.
And the same can be true of different flavours of tea. There are those that I despised as a young child which I love as an adult and vice versa. Moreover, my love of tea in general has shifted over the years which has perhaps made my fondness for certain flavours stronger over time. At the same time, my pallet has refined and I now prefer more premium teas than I may have enjoyed previously.
So it would seem that our perception of all things is relative — to both the universe around us and our own interpretation. In this way, all things are in the essence of the beholder for it is them that does the comprehension and places final judgement. In this way, we are all ugly and we are all beautiful, depending on who you ask.
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