Side comment: The assignment in My AP lit class was to explain your own idea of human beauty so that is what I did.

Human beauty is what is in the soul. It is that presence inside someone that issues forth acceptance, unconditional love and friendship. People with human beauty are those with goodness to offer and a hand to hold or a shoulder to lean on. They are someone that listens to you and guides you with only good intentions. They are dependable and are there for you in times of the greatest trial. They are considerate and without reserve. They shine, and enable you to shine. They make you beautiful, by letting you know their beauty. They make everything seem suddenly possible and your dreams tangible. They allow you to behold a small piece of heaven that can give you hope and strength when you are run down and tired of life's endless struggle. They place color upon your palette that allows you to create warm brilliance onto a snowy desolate canvas. Sometimes you will know those with true human beauty only fleetingly but you'll never forget them or their beauty because of their profound effects they have on your own soul.

I was in an art gallery in New York earlier this year and a man that I only knew for the span of a few minutes touched me and I'll never forget him. It was in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It was the most magnificent structure with immense columns and a series of different chapels stringing along the sides. I was wondering in one of the galleries in the back admiring the art that a local artist had on display. I noticed a man admiring the paintings along side me looking at the splashes of brilliant color. He was an older man that needed a cane to walk and he limped slightly. His smile was true, and his kind face honest. I felt like I knew him the instant I laid my eyes upon his face. I smiled at him and he looked at me with the same kind of awe and smiled back. He asked me if I admired art and I told him that I did. We spoke of the beauty of art and the world and the sheer triumph of human life. He told me that I was beautiful, and that I reminded him of an angel, and he honestly believed it with his every pore. I could see it in his face, and his belief swam into me, and I was warmed by it despite the chill in the chapel. I felt heady, and as the sun shown through the ornate stain-glass windows I felt immersed in light, and the sheer beauty of the moment, of the place, and of the man. It was a surreal moment. His beauty touched me and I was made more beautiful because of him.

Human beauty is in us all I think but for some it has not been found, and for others it has been hidden. But it is there in all of us if we search it out and don't give in. There is so much beauty everywhere if we stop and truly see it for what it is and take nothing for granted, but rather live every day as if it were our last and treasure the moment for what it truly is - one of a kind, never to be repeated.