Dorothy Allison, throughout her book, writes down in italics the little bits of wisdom she has learned over the years to be true and one of these truths that have particular resonance is about one of the most basic things we are all taught in life. She writes, “Two or three things I know, two or three things I know for sure and one of them is that if we are not beautiful to each other, we cannot know beauty in any form.”
This phrase has appeared in one form or another all throughout the most basic teachings of life. Even as far back as the bible the phrase love others as you would love yourself appears. To be beautiful to each other as we must love each other and until we are able to be beautiful to each other we will never know beauty. For too long in our world there has been suffering perpetrated by ugly hatred and the beauty of it all cannot possibly be seen unless we begin to love one another.
To be beautiful to each other is a much simpler task than to be ugly. Being beautiful could be as easy as tracing your niece’s face with your fingers as Allison does. Being ugly to one another requires scheming and anger, things that detract from life and hide the beauty of it all from us. Without being beautiful to one another we will never be able to see life for what it should truly be. Life spent making the lives of others more difficult and thereby your own existence less fruitful is a tragedy. Conversely a life spent experiencing joy and bringing joy to others is a life that has been enjoyed and one in which happiness has been pursued to its fullest extent.
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