Your Brain on Beauty

Season 4, Episode 3

When was the last time something beautiful made you stop in your tracks? Not because it was expensive or impressive, but because it simply made you notice.

In this episode, we're exploring what neuroscience tells us about beauty, why experiences of awe can change the way we see the world and how beauty does something remarkable for creative people: it inspires us to make beautiful things of our own.

We'll talk about why beauty isn't frivolous, why it doesn't have to look the same for everyone and why I think cultivating beauty is one of the most practical ways to become more creative, more present, and more alive.

Because maybe beauty is something we need to learn to see.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome back to your next chapter, the podcast for women who read, write, and live creatively. I'm your host, Rebecca Hasselak. And today we are talking about your brain on beauty. So let's get started. I want to first ask you a question. Why do we stop to take photos of sunsets but not parking lots? Why do flowers change the feel of a hospital room or even your living room? Why do beautifully designed bookstores and libraries invite us to linger? The answer is beauty. Beauty clearly matters to us, but why? And I'm talking about this not from a superficial perspective, not about beautiful women or us aspiring to be beautiful as women. I am talking about beauty in the world around us, beauty in yes, other people, but not from a superficial perspective. So I want to look at beauty through the lens of science and not just philosophy. Here is what the brain does when we experience beauty. There have been neuroimaging studies that consistently show activation of the medial orbitofrontal cortex when people experience beauty, whether that's in art, in music, in nature, even in mathematics and other domains. I know. I personally have never found math beautiful, but hey, there have got to be people out there who do. This region, though, is involved in reward, meaning, and positive emotion. So the brain appears to respond to the experience of beauty itself, even when the source differs, which I think is pretty interesting. It's not just decoration, it becomes emotionally meaningful. And the reason is this. Well, part of the reason. Our brains are filtering enormous amounts of information every single day. Think about all of the things that we process. We process everything we see, everything we hear, everything we touch, everything we taste, everything we smell. Yes, I did just name all the senses. But we do. We're processing all of that. In addition, we are just living in a time of intense stimulation. We are processing the dings and pings of our phones. We are processing scrolling through social media platforms. We are processing all the information at our fingertips thanks to the internet and now AI. We are just constantly in a processing mode. So our brains are just working, working, working, working. Poor little brains, like on treadmills. And then something beautiful catches your eye or trickles into your ear. That sounds weird, but you know what I mean. Beauty interrupts all of that filtering that your brain is doing. It makes you pause, it makes you notice, it makes you wonder. And it does make you stay present. This is also kind of what happens with creativity. Creativity begins with noticing. Most of us are inspired in some way, shape, or form by the world around us. We're inspired by nature. We are inspired by relationships. We are inspired by other art, right? All of that begins with noticing and appreciating. And so that's very similar to how we interact with beauty. There's another component here, and I want to talk about awe. Awe is a funny word to say on a podcast because it can sound like A-H-H-H. But the awe I'm talking about, which you may have guessed, is A-W-E, things that actually fill us with awe. And on a tangent, I think this is kind of funny. I remember someone saying people describing everyday things as awesome is such a misuse of the word because someone will be like wearing, I don't know, a grungy band t-shirt. And another person who likes that band will be like, awesome shirt. And if you really think about what the word awesome means, right? It's about awe, being awe in like something being awe-inspiring, something kind of captivating you, taking your breath away. And yes, I do use the word awesome improperly all the time. It's a great word. I digress. The point is, experiences of actual awe have been associated with increased curiosity, generosity, connectedness, and a reduced sense of self-focus, which all of those things, I mean, who doesn't want more of those things, right? So trying to find awe in your daily life is just a great approach. It not only roots you to the moment, helps you have a little more gratitude, helps you to actually see the world around you, but it also gives your brain these little breaks for beauty that are really important. The other thing that awe does, and now the word is just sounding weird to me. I hope it doesn't sound weird to you two. But the other thing about it is that it can change your perception of time, which is really cool. If you think about it, you're going, going, going, you're having all of this filtering and processing and going and doing, and it's kind of frenetic. Then you get this experience where something just captivates you and it kind of slows time down for you. Obviously, not literally, but it makes you feel like you are in the moment and present and like you can actually take a full breath in that moment. And beauty isn't limited to just landscapes. Obviously, we often think of nature. Nature is easy money in this regard, right? Who doesn't love the ocean? Who doesn't love forests? Who doesn't love flowers and animals? I mean, you guys. Nature is incredible. God did a great job. That's all I'm saying. But beauty isn't limited to landscapes. Humans create beauty all the time. There's beauty in novels, music, dance, architecture, photography, gardens, and even just basic, simple, everyday human moments when we connect with another person. The thing that is cool about beauty is kind of what I touched on a couple minutes ago, which is that it does inspire creativity. So as creatives, we are not just getting all the benefit of beauty as another human would, which we do get all that, but it also often makes us want to create, right? I think about this all the time. There might be a song I hear. Like my daughter was dancing to this song by Pink in her dance class, and it's called Our Song. And Pink just has a beautiful voice. But the song was just really moving, and it made me want to dance. It made me want to sing. I mean, for your guys' benefit, I won't. But it made me like I'm a writer, right? But I also danced growing up and I still dance whenever I can. But it just made me want to wanna move, want to create, want to feel. I don't know. It just, it really, it really touched me. And so this is often what happens. We might write after we read a beautiful novel. We might paint after seeing remarkable art. We might see a landscape that just takes our breath away and want to photograph it. We might rearrange a room because we're inspired by something. We might want to learn an instrument after hearing a great piece of music or attending a symphony. It's kind of like this beauty creates beauty, which is awesome. And we can always use more of it. But beauty is also deeply personal. I'm sure you've heard beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is so true. Even when it comes to just physical beauty, which I said I wasn't gonna talk about, but just briefly, you know, you can have three people, let's just say women, since we're women, and three different people ask who the most beautiful is, and three different people will choose three different ones. Okay, so I'm saying this strangely. But anyway, one person is gonna seem like the most beautiful to one other person, and so on and so forth. Yes, there are some people that maybe everybody would agree is beautiful, but we all have our own tastes, we all have our own preferences. There are certain things that appeal to us more than others, and so it is really in the eye of the beholder and it's deeply personal. So one piece of music might move someone to tears while someone else might be completely unaffected by it. It doesn't make beauty meaningless, it just makes it relational. And it kind of, I did a whole episode, I don't even remember the month, about subjectivity in art. But it ties back to that because beauty is subjective. And creators don't need to aim for universal appeal. They just need meaningful connection. Your art is not going to be beautiful to every single person who encounters it. That's okay. Is it going to be beautiful to a few? I hope so, probably, right? That's what matters. So, what does this mean for creators? First of all, don't chase universal approval. Even the people who have hit all the milestones that most of us associate with the greatest success in the art world, guess what? Not everybody liked everything they've done. Even some of the movies that have gotten Best Picture at the Academy Awards, there are plenty of people who will criticize them, right? There are works of art hanging in the Louvre that people will pick apart and say, not for me, I don't really know why it's there. There are novels who have been runaway bestsellers and made the book club lists that people might just not really connect with. Like it's just a fact of it. It is always going to be subjective. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder. Stop chasing universal approval because you're never going to get it and you will be exhausted trying. I want you to remember this. If something you create becomes beautiful to one person, you've made a meaningful contribution. Truly. And more than likely, if it's beautiful to one person, it will be beautiful to many. So it's unlikely that it'll stop there, but even just one, it is still meaningful. And what does this mean for consumers of art? Beauty isn't an indulgence. You shouldn't feel bad about seeking beauty in different varieties. It nourishes us. Reading, music, museums, gardens, thoughtfully designed spaces, and beautiful writing all shape how we experience the world. We often treat beauty kind of like dessert, right? It's something nice if there's time, or if maybe I ate a really healthy dinner. But maybe beauty is closer to nutrition. Maybe it's something we actually really need and we seek out and we want, and our bodies respond really positively too. So here are some practical ideas. And these are good ideas if you just want a little more beauty in your life, or if you're actually looking for inspiration as a creative. You can visit a museum or a botanical garden. You can read beautifully written fiction. You can take a walk without headphones. You can notice architecture, buy fresh flowers, listen to music without multitasking. And if you feel so moved, dance, even if you're not a dancer. Sing, even if you're not a singer. Create a workspace filled with things that inspire you. Anything else like that. And more than anything, just try to notice. Notice what's around you. I guarantee there's a lot more beauty around you than you maybe even have noticed because we get so caught up in our hustle and our bustle in our day-to-day lives. So I want you to think about this as we start to wrap up here. What is the most beautiful thing you've experienced this week? Not the most expensive, not the most impressive, simply the most beautiful. Creators don't simply make beautiful things, they become people who notice beauty first. Maybe beauty isn't something we find, maybe it's something we practice noticing. And it's something that we can give to others. I want to close with this quick quote, which is from Rachel Carson. And she says, Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. So I challenge you this week contemplate the beauty of the earth, find the beauty in art, find the beauty around you, and allow yourself to be inspired, and as always, to keep creating and keep turning the page.