- Katharina Tinkl
- Mar 15
- 4 min read
I have a friend with whom I like to have lengthy philosophical discussions.
And this friend also has another friend with whom he likes to have even lengthier philosophical discussions.
So he recently forwarded me one of those from her Telegram channel – in which they pondered the current state of the world.
In that discussion, my friend's friend, who has the skill of analysing things on a deep level – like the level behind the level behind the level behind the surface, which is something I greatly appreciate – said some pretty thought-provoking stuff.
Which I am not gonna get into here, though.
What’s more important for the context of this email is that she also said something pretty depressing.
Essentially, she believes that...
... there is no hope whatsoever for the majority of people, with what is likely to come to all of us in a not-too-distant future.
That we as humans have effed up so badly that we are beyond the point of any hope now.
And I thought to myself:
Blimey, what an incredibly bleak perspective!
I am convinced she has her reasons. Probably some she could back up extremely well in an argument.
But all this brought me back to years ago – to some point in my soul-searching twenties – when I was asking myself one of those deep questions about life:
“What is my purpose???”
And I got a very clear answer back then:
“Bring more love and beauty into the world.”
Already then, it got me thinking:
Isn’t that a bit shallow? Aren’t there more pressing things happening in the world right now than preoccupying yourself with beauty!? Aren’t those other things more important and need to be taken care of first?
People having less money, one major catastrophe chasing the next, terrifying news and war announcements looping on the news 24/7… who has the time, emotional space, and money for art, given all that???
How can you justify creating art and selling it for a price that also actually reflects its worth, the time and love that went into it?
One could now simply think: well, you just don’t.
But think about this some more.
What if not beauty is the answer to most, if not all, questions in life (when you go to the level behind the level behind the level behind the surface)?
Especially in hard times, where we seemingly only see misery around us, isn’t it particularly important to open our eyes to beauty once more?
When you are permanently stressed and depressed because for the last I don’t know how many years it has been constantly announced that the world might be ending any day now, isn’t it crucial, especially then, to bring beauty back into your life?
Of course, if you don’t have money to buy food, don’t go buy art!
But there are other ways to experience beauty – go out into nature, and look at the leaves of a tree or the petals of flowers, or marvel at the enchanting babbling of a brook that meanders its way through a landscape.
But if you can afford something that is beautiful to you, it might be worth considering it.
Recently, for example, I bought a calendar with artwork from an artist I like, Steph Edwards (you might know her as toyoufromsteph on the gram).
Did I need it? Not necessarily. Will it bring me joy throughout the year when I look at it in my adorable kitchen whenever I am cooking a nice meal? Absolutely!
So I argue:
We need more beauty in our lives, and it’s not unnecessary or pointless. It very much is the point of our lives.
Maybe artists have a harder time justifying their work in dire times – as one might think other things are more important right now. But what if everyone only focused on the pragmatic, mere survival-mode stuff? And nobody focused on beauty anymore?
How sad a world would that be?
So: lovingly created art is needed – especially in hard times! To keep us going and give us hope.
I don’t mean go around mindlessly spending your money to accumulate stuff you don’t need.
But if something moves you, touches your soul, and speaks to your heart, I’d argue: allow yourself to enjoy its beauty.
And let that beauty ripple through your life.
Reminding you and inspiring you to look out for even more beauty – to amplify it, radiate it, and create more of it yourself – to balance out all the misery you see left, right and centre.
Not in a sense of naïvely ignoring what's going on in the world. But as an act of choosing an alternative. Will it tip the scale enough to make a difference? I don't know.
But what I know for myself right now is:
I want to appreciate beauty and let it fill my life. (It actually is there anyway – all you need is to choose to see it.)
There you go, that’s my monologue for today. You're welcome.
And, if you now think “Hm, that eloquent and wise half-German, half-English girl has a point: I could do with some more beauty in my life!”, I subtly suggest my bespoke Spirit Animal portraits.
Here’s a quick rundown of how those work:
You tell me your Spirit Animal(s) and idea for the painting
I paint it
I send it to you
You can marvel at it in your home and have one of your 5-a-day daily doses of beauty sorted, easy-peasy
And what’s extra cool is that the painting will have a special meaning to you. So it will likely help you even more through the challenging times we are in and which will most realistically continue to get more intense.
To get your portrait, click here:
Love,
Katharina