Why Beauty Breaks Our Hearts
Have you ever felt sad while listening to beautiful music?
Have you ever teared up while listening to a beautiful piece of music?
What about a movie? Have you ever teared up at a part that’s not exactly sad, like the end of the Lion King when they’re singing Circle of Life? That one gets me every time.
Or, maybe you’ve stared up at the heavens on a dark night, understood the enormity of the universe, and felt a deep sadness in the pit of your stomach?
Admit it, something like this has probably happened to you at least once. But, why? Why does beauty evoke sadness in us? So much so that we are sometimes brought to tears?
I think that beauty and sadness are opposite sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. They are connected, intertwined, inseparable.
This is why beauty sometimes makes use cry — because at their extremes, at their edges, beauty and sadness merge and become one. And this is worth noticing because we tend to push away sadness, to hope and pretend it will never happen, and then when it inevitably arrives it destroys us.
But, if we accept the inevitable sadness of life, perhaps we can change our perspective. Perhaps we can appreciate the beauty in it all.
