I remember being told growing up to “Always leave a place better than you found it.” I remember being annoyed as a kid as I would have to clean up and fix things that were other peoples and therefore in my mind other people’s problems. I remember thinking it was dumb and a waste of time. However looking back I see that there were many lessons to be learned there.
Looking back it’s kind of crazy the different things that I’ve written about on the site, many of them things I never thought I’d be writing about. And one of these would be the beautifying of spaces and what that means and why its important for men. We’re moving beyond the “how to be uber alpha alphaness alpha” and moving into things that I feel are just as if not more important.
But first as with all things we have to start with a definition what do I mean by beautifying space? Does that mean putting a bunch of flowers around your room and sprucing up your apartment? Not so much, though that can technically be a part of it. I’m talking about more than just aesthetics here, though again aesthetics are a part of this.
Let’s get into it.
What Is The Beautifying Of Space?
The definition of beauty is “1. a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.” but that only addresses partly what we’re talking about here. Now, a forewarning I’m going to get a little esoteric and woo-wooey here but again bear with me. To beauty a space means more than just to make it look better, it also means to make it more functional without making it ugly, it means combining art and craft and life, it means making a place more true to the soul and function of that place.
Let’s look at some concrete examples. Let’s say you were just given a gym and let’s say it has a padded floor and white walls with equipment in it. What would you do to “beautify that space?’ the first thing is maybe you paint the walls a different color or fill it with murals of weight lifters or body builders. Or maybe you put cool designs on it. Or maybe you leave it white and stark.
You arrange the equipment into certain groupings for better use and effectiveness. If you’re going for a yuppie gym you keep the lights bright and maybe spray testosterone and aroma destroying sprays into the air every 20 minutes. If you’re going for a more hardcore gym you might make it a little darker and so on and so forth. You match the aesthetics and function of a place to serve its function better.
Why Does This Matter?
Now I’ll be the first to admit that the beautifying of a space is not a life or death matter. If you don’t beauty say your office, you’re not going to die, you’re not going to never be able to call yourself a man, and so on and so forth. This is definitely one of those “high level” things after you have the basics covered. However there is an importance in this. One it infuses a space with “you” what makes you, you. You leave your print on it.
Second people naturally respond to order and beauty and depending on who they are it either inspires them if they’re above average in soul, uplifts them if they’re average, and makes them angry if they’re below average in soul. Soul meaning life, energy, wisdom, whatever you want that makes sense for you. What made me think more about this was visiting some old places and how much effort went into every aspect of them.
Looking at this old architecture and how everything was put effort into, I get the same feeling when I look at medieval cathedrals, castles, and the like. Where function and form come together and produce something that exceeds both. There’s something ennobling about it. If you don’t understand this I’d recommend going to see old architecture and walking through it. And maybe that’s the most important function, ennobling of others.
Practical Ways To Beautify A Space
Since so many people are working from home nowadays, let’s use the home office as an example. Let’s say you have a basic room with carpet and white walls, now what could you do to beautify this space? Maybe you start was swapping out an ikea desk with one you make yourself or one that finer made. Maybe not practical but an option. Maybe you hang up wall tapestries on the wall. I liked this one for my bedroom and this one for my study, but you can also go a little crazy and go with something like this.
I’ve also used salt lamps to give a more natural glow to the bed room and use it for others thing as well. This might sound a little hippy-dippy or too Home & Garden for you but don’t underestimate this. It shouldn’t just be yuppie women and hippies who decorate spaces and make them “their own”. You should do it to. What’s more manly than claiming your territory and leaving your stamp upon it?
Plus if it looks better, then why not? Maybe get some art and hang it up. Don’t do what’s popular do what you like. Maybe a Frazetta on the wall next to a Norman Rockwell, its up to you what gets you going and what you like. Figure it out and beautify your space with it. Make it unique and make it something that you like. There’s nothing wrong with that and I can guarantee you’re underestimating the benefits.
So go ahead and beautify the spaces around you as much as you can.
P.S. As a side note this is a big reason I use pictures of nature for the members only posts and have kept using them even when not using pictures on other articles.
