Inside the Chateau of the Ducs de Bretagne is this enormous old well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a well with so many pulleys above it. It was obviously a very important resource.
I’m always impressed by creations which are beautiful as well as useful. Look at the ornate and elaborate iron work on this well. There’s an instinct in human beings to create, and an instinct towards beauty. Whoever built this well could have made a much more mundane (and ugly) structure to draw the water.
But with so called progress we’ve become a bit distanced from beauty. Time and again it’s sacrificed at the altar of utility, which in turn is constrained by profit making. So cheapness wins over beautiful all around us. Don’t you wonder as you stroll around an old city why, if we’ve progressed, if we’ve become richer as a society, it’s all the older buildings which look the most beautiful.
Ok I’m in danger of falling into a dualistic generalising trap here, because there are some stunningly beautiful modern buildings and some dreadfully ugly ancient ones! But my thought here is that beauty seems built in from the start in these old structures. Whereas often now it’s only an afterthought achieved poorly through decoration and trimmings.
If we don’t surround ourselves with beauty don’t we make our lives more superficial, and poorer?
I think we do.
It’s time to reconnect to our depths…..
It’s time to promote values and qualities instead of utility and profit. Good, true and beautiful stand the test of time.
Heroes Not Zombies 
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