Stoddard - Open your eyes: 1,000 simple ways to bring beauty into your home and life each day

Beauty and art pervade all the affairs of life like some friendly genius, and embellish with their cheer all our surroundings.

H EGEL

Making the most of our lives, preserving harmony in our surroundings, and loving what we have and see is the most satisfactory way to live. Just as the satisfactory relationship of one person to another results in comfort, peace, and joy, so does the satisfactory relationship of ideal proportion and scale. As in relationships, there is stability in proper proportion and scale that leads to pleasure and sensible living, health and ease. My aim in this chapter is, to transform the way you see everyday life, as well as what you do and how you live as a result.

There are none so blind as those who cannot see.

J ONATHAN S WIFT

Awe is what moves us forward.

J OSEPH C AMPBELL

The difference between living and half living is seeing well, looking for associations between things, seeking the connections, being aware of scale and proportion. If it is true that what you seek you find, then it is also true that what you see you find. When you see well, you enjoy the beauty of the world rather than seeing only half the treasures around you.

Proportion and scale are the tools for achieving this harmonious ideal. Their benevolent effects are all around you. Not too much, not too little. Not too high, not too low. Not too fat, not too thin; not too sweet, not too sour; not too loud, not too faint; not too busy, not too bland; not too garish, not too dull; not too extravagant, not too stingy. We know the world is not perfect. But if we can see ideal proportionthe relationship of things to themselvesand if we can see scalethe size of objects on their ownwe will be better equipped to see that a rich life is out there, ours for the seeing and learning. When you seek the ideal, understanding the relationships among people and objects around you, beauty is wherever you are.

At any given moment, I open my eyes and exist.

U GO B ETTI

Let scale and proportion help you to become a seer, with your eyes and brain answering to your own highest conception of the ideal.

Proportion is the part considered in relationship to the whole. The essence of proportion is the connection among objects (or parts of a single object) in regard to size, dimensions, and character. All things, from simple two-dimensional shapesa rooms floor plan or a tabletopto more complex three-dimensional objectsa carved mantel or a Ming vasehave proportions. If one part varies, the other parts are affected, and the original harmony of the whole is disturbed. Every object has several individual components that come together to make up a whole. The proportions of an object are determined by its distinctive measurements, form, line, curve, and design details. When there is a harmonious relationship among the parts that make up the whole, aesthetically pleasing proportions result, delighting the eye. When something is not in proportion, when there is no integration between the parts, it lacks unity and is jarring, disturbing to the eye. Recognizing ideal proportion and correcting what is awkward is a fundamental skill for seeing well. Mastering it requires training the eye.