A photo of the painting A Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh may not be the first image one thinks of when they hear the word “beauty”. “Beauty” typically makes us conjure an image of a beautiful person, or of a breathtaking piece of scenery found in a picture book. This way of thinking isn’t wrong; however, there is another layer to the word “beauty”. Beauty, as defined by the dictionary, means “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses...” However the definition of beauty should include the emotions and feelings behind each image that teach and reveal its own unique but astounding version of reality.

And A Starry Night is a perfect example of a piece that shows--even speaks--true beauty. How does it fit the dictionary’s definition of beauty? It’s first in the colors--the thick, suffocating black, the cool waves of ocean blue, and the soft hints of yellow. Together, these colors create an extraordinary and even lifelike version of our own sky. The soothing yet ominous colors show the darkness of our world, but also the true and pure beauty of the thousands of twinkling stars over heads. The painting also has certain “qualities” our society has deemed to be beautiful--the quiet, sleeping town beneath the bursting midnight sky, the gentle rolling hills in the distance--it’s qualities we see in every painting that has been deemed “beautiful”.

So what makes this painting different from the dictionary definition? The emotions that leak from its very canvas. Bursts of peacefulness and happiness. Tendrils of darkness and distress. These emotions, these feelings, are the true definition of beauty. While sometimes dark and ominous, the meaning behind this painting encourages us to dig further, to find the beauty in the midst of the darkness. And it’s not just this painting. Every image--those of people, of wildlife and nature--every picture has an emotion. A feeling. A heartbeat. And while not every picture may be aesthetically pleasing, the feelings each one inspires speaks louder than anything our eyes could ever see. This, this, is the true definition of beauty. Because beauty is always there, in the goodness and the darkness. It’s always begging to be heard. Listen to it. Feel it. And be inspired by it.