A girl and a boy sit on a hillside overlooking the city. The lights shine brightly in the night and flicker as thought they were all candles being blown by the wind. The perfect night with the perfect girl, he looks over to her and reminds her she is beautiful. When she asks why, he fumbles with his words. Is beauty a matter of looks, personality or spirit? Beautiful has been used by teenage boys trying out the difference between "beautiful" and "hot" on girls and, yes, in magazines. How does a "hot" and "sexy" girl become beautiful? Or is she born with it?
Not only does beauty pertain to people, but it does to nature as well. We refer the the sunset and sunrise as beautiful and we refer to flowers fully bloomed as beautiful. But does the sunset have a personality and can a flower have a spirit?
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i think the distinction between "beautiful" and other words doesn't necessarily have to do with what is being described (girl, sunset, flower, etc), but the emotion that is behind the seemingly superficial reaction. when i see a particularly aesthetically pleasing sunset, it also strikes a chord within me on an emotional level, so i'm inclined to describe it as beautiful. i feel the same way about people--someone that is physically attractive won't necessarily be beautiful to me unless there's some kind of emotional element, even if it's just a gut reaction to a specific feature or their spirit or their personality.
--stacie