“Thy Fearful Asymmetry”

Shakespeare in his sonnets to his mistress serenaded her with his love but kept a realistic view of her (and by extension: our) physical appearance. “A woman’s face with Nature’s own hand painted”. By its own contrivance Nature is not perfect and neither are we. One perfection that does not exist is symmetry. Blake’s Tiger’s “fearful symmetry” could only be framed by “What immortal hand or eye”.

What sets us apart from each other(aside personality) is the uniqueness of our physical features. As I wrote sometime ago our beauty exists in the very fact that we are not perfect in looks and this adds to our individuality.

With the surge in “selfies”( by the forty and under crowd) at every opportunity, the appearance of the face in the foreground of every site, moment, adventure, gives it undeniable significance and importance. The scrutiny that this invokes presents normal facial asymmetry mistaken as a problem rather than as a customary variation not only on different people but also on the same face!

There are many internet sites that offer communal advice on aesthetic issues, most of which are questions on the asymmetry of eyes, ears, eyebrows, nose, lips which give credence to the existence of a real problem where none exist.

Admire the view, the spectacle, the event and forget about yourself for the moment.