The Desire to be Immersed in Beauty:

​​Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

"I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use — silence, exile, and cunning."

“You made me confess the fears that I have. But I will tell you also what I do not fear. I do not fear to be alone or to be spurned for another or to leave whatever I have to leave. And I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake and perhaps as long as eternity too.”

“When a man is born...there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets.”

“He wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful and sad, like music.”

“The object of the artist is the creation of the beautiful. What the beautiful is is another question.”

- Stephen Dedalus, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Consider the artist who is alienated from religion, patriotism, and politics and whose primary calling in life is to create something beautiful.

Consider, for example, the character of Stephen Dedalus presented by James Joyce in "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" (1916). Stephen's story is not that of all artists. Artists can be at home in their worlds. But it is the story of many an artist in contemporary society who feels alienated, for understandable reasons, from family, religion, and politics, and who finds the call of art, and individual self-expression through art, a compelling ideal, and perhaps even “the” compelling ideal, of a lifetime—more compelling, more persuasive in a Whiteheadian sense, than economic advancement, loyalty to a religion, or immersion in politics.

For this kind of artist, the language of religion will be distant. Words like "God" and "faith" and “church” will seem irrelevant or even repugnant. But there may be one word, if understood in rich, non-sentimental terms, that may help name the compelling ideal, and that word is "Beauty," or, more accurately, the phrase “truthful Beauty.”

Truthful Beauty is more than mere prettiness, more than satisfying harmony, more than opium for the masses. Beauty is the process of creating art with the aim of revealing the truth of how things have been, how things are, or how things can be.

The truth to be revealed need not be a happy truth, a simple truth, or a moral truth. It may be the truth of being alone and awakened to the wild heart of life:

“He was alone. He was unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life. He was alone and young and wilful and wildhearted, alone amid a waste of wild air and brackish waters and the seaharvest of shells and tangle and veiled grey sunlight.”

But it is truthful, and in this truthfulness lies its Beauty.

If truthful Beauty of this sort is the compelling ideal for some artists, then those of us with process-relational eyes will well understand and appreciate this calling, because for us this kind of Beauty, a truthful beauty, is at the heart of the universe. We believe that the universe itself seeks beauty and that, in the words of Whitehead: "The teleology of the Universe is directed toward the production of Beauty." Truth be told, we think Beauty is another name for God.

Accordingly, we understand people who give themselves to Beauty with a passion that surpasses all other passions, and whose aim is, as it were, to bathe in Beauty. In the language of C.S. Lewis: "We do not want merely to see beauty…We want something else that can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."

We understand people like Stephen Dedalus and want to make sure that the larger world appreciates their vocation and makes makes space for those who give their lives to it. We also know that a certain kind of alienation is inevitable and truthful in its own right. There are certain aspects of the world, including religion and politics, not worth adapting to. Art needs to reveal the whole of life.  Of philosophy Whitehead writes: "Philosophy may not neglect the multifariousness of the world—the fairies dance, and Christ is nailed to the cross." And so it is of art. It, too, must reveal dancing fairies and crucified saviors.

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Recall Stephen's story. He is a young man navigating his way through the complexities of family, religion, and politics as he seeks to define his identity as an artist. His is a relentless quest for self-expression and freedom.

Stephen's early years are dominated by his family, particularly the influence of his devoutly Catholic mother and the financial instability caused by his father. Stephen is deeply affected by the conflicting values and the emotional turmoil within his family, which contributes to his sense of estrangement. As he grows older, he becomes increasingly critical of his family's expectations and the limitations they impose on his artistic aspirations.

Religion plays a crucial role in Stephen's development. Raised in a strict Catholic environment, he initially adheres to the religious doctrines and experiences intense feelings of guilt and fear. However, as he matures, he begins to question the dogmas and the oppressive nature of the church. His struggles with faith culminate in a rejection of the church's authority, symbolized by his refusal to become a priest despite being offered the opportunity. This rejection is a pivotal moment in Stephen's journey, as he chooses the uncertain path of an artist over the security and conformity of religious life.

Politics also contribute to Stephen's alienation. Growing up in Ireland during a time of intense political turmoil, he witnesses the fervent nationalism and the divisive debates over Irish independence. Stephen is disillusioned by the parochialism and the often myopic nature of political discourse. He feels disconnected from the nationalistic fervor that surrounds him and is critical of the way politics intrudes upon personal and artistic freedom.

Stephen's desire is to break free from the constraints imposed by family, religion, and politics, which are impediments to his artistic creativity and personal autonomy. His alienation is both a source of pain and a driving force in his quest to be an artist. He grapples with feelings of isolation and the fear of being misunderstood, yet he is determined to forge his own path.

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You may know some people like Stephen. You may be a Stephen. And even if not, you may recognize something of his own journey in your own, because you, too are alienated from traditional structures and norms. 

From a Whiteheadian perspective, the call of truthful Beauty in you is divine. Beauty is another name for God in the cosmos and in the human heart. Patricia Adams Farmer, a leading process thinker, speaks of many kinds of beauty: moral beauty, soul beauty, tragic beauty, natural beauty, and artistic beauty. Stephen's call was to create artistic beauty for the sake of soul beauty; yours may be of a different kind. But the call is from the same source. This call is compelling in its attractive power, but it cannot compel you. It requires your own cooperation, your own obedience, to be realized. Sometimes the obedience can only be realized if, at the same time, you try to fly beyond the nets:

​“When a man is born...there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets.”

It is said that, in order to be fully human, we need roots and wings: security and adventure. Sometimes we sacrifice security for adventure. We sever ties with what is comforting and familiar for the sake of what is true and beautiful. Sometimes though, comfort and the familiar have their own truth and beauty, and we take a pass on adventure for the healing found in rest. We may make mistakes, but they are holy mistakes.

​"I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a great mistake, a lifelong mistake and perhaps as long as eternity too.”