Introduction Assignment Jack Arians

1st: 

• I encountered beauty on the Ute Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. The views of immense valleys and mountains mixed with the brisk air and silence of the tundra made for a serene experience. 

• I encountered beauty while playing in the Jazz Ensemble in high school. The combinations of chords gave me an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and made the hair on the back of my neck tingle.

• I encountered beauty while snorkeling in the Dominican Republic. I saw a vast reef system filled with multicolored tropical fish. The setting sun split through the warm blue-green water in giant beams like swords. 

2nd:

• In the first example I felt incredibly calm, comfortable, and content even though I had just hiked four miles and was getting 2/3 the amount of air I needed in the tundra. The scene of the enormous valleys of Rocky Mountain National Park was simply breathtaking as you realize just how small you are in the world compared to these incredible formations. 

• In the next example, I just almost always felt some sort of pleasure while playing in my high school jazz ensemble. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what you are feeling when you say you enjoy a piece of music whether it’s satisfaction, bewilderment, pleasure, comfort, etc., it moves you emotional in some way.

• In the last example, I felt a sense of wonder or awe while being immersed in this aquatic environment. It was like I was experiencing life in entirely new world from ours.

3rd:

• In all of these examples I think I felt I had encountered beauty because I found something that was pleasing to me. Things where I felt enjoyment just from experiencing in an instant from my senses. In more casual language I think in all of these instances I thought to myself “this is dope” and truly meant something by it.