Your Role is to Normalize Beauty
Everyone has their opinion about recent events that took place at the Oscars. I won’t get into weighing in on who was correct and who was wrong. However, as I watched this event, and as I have watched other events like the recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings, coverage of the war in Ukraine, and of course, the war itself, I’m amazed at how comfortable we’ve become with the overall tone, tempo, and ugliness of living today. We are willing to go there at every level, quickly whether it is on the street corner, the ballroom, or our nation’s capital. Then, we articulate all kinds of reasons why doing so is necessary.
Perhaps this should not surprise me. When trying to relax and explore what might be on television to watch, it is nearly impossible to find a program that is not grounded in ugliness. They are often polished nicely with beautiful photography, music, and graphics but you just cannot get away from aggression, accusation, crime, pain, psychopaths, dysfunction, and violence. I often find peace and beauty only when watching a film or television program that is decades old, a documentary, or a concert. Even what we call comedy today, quickly gets foul and offensive. I have written before about the normalization of profanity in conversation. Unfortunately, we no longer resist or flinch.
I am glad to be focused on exceptional companies, products, and services. What I see today reinforces the unique role we place as entrepreneurs, marketers, sales, and service professionals in luxury, making available the best to those who desire them. We are expected in our work to layer on top of physical items, the intangibles of a beautiful demeanor and experience. That’s one of the things I train people to do. However, performing in this way requires enormous focus today – more than ever before. Staying in elegant character is challenging when surrounded by the opposite.
Interestingly, ugly is frequently delivered these days by people who do not look ugly. They might be wearing an expensive suit, dinner jacket or gown, or in a beautiful setting, which of course, means nothing. Looking good, being well-dressed, and even holding an expensive item – like an Oscar does not make you beautiful, particularly if at a moment’s notice you’re willing to be just as ugly as if you were a criminal, in rags, on a street corner. In other words, the idea of defining, cultivating, and communicating beauty from inside is something we must sincerely focus on, particularly under difficult circumstances. I know we have all dealt with Covid for two years, and we have had various related challenges, but if we lose our intentions to find, reflect, and demonstrate beauty, why are we on earth? Let’s stop debating the relevance and justification of ugliness in every form. Whether you are in luxury like me, or not, your role in whatever you do should be to normalize beauty, inside and out and let nothing turn you ugly.
