Life: Beautiful, Not or In Between

While driving north on La Brea Ave or Highland Ave in Los Angeles, California toward Hollywood, it’s hard to miss the large “Life Is Beautiful” murals painted on the sides of two prominent buildings. And it’s true; if asked to give a simple yes or no answer to whether Life was beautiful or not, I would say that Life is indeed beautiful. But lets be honest about our understanding of Life and how we’ve experienced it. I’m sure you’ll agree that Life is all encompassing: yesterday, today, and tomorrow, the good, the bad, and the indifferent. I don’t mean to come off as being cynical—I agree with the obvious message captured in this artwork—but the murals also capture a simple, yet less obvious, truth as implied by the choice of colors and conceptual design.

The bold, white block lettering followed with an exclamation point implies optimism, truth, love, hope, good; a myriad of wonderful things that affirm the joys that contribute to making Life beautiful. But we would be delusional if we dared to assume that Life’s beauty is summed up in general positives. Life is easily corrupted with lies, hate, violence, injustice, struggle and this is illustrated by the dripping white paint, ascending from the letters themselves. As if being corroded naturally, the artist has given the city of Los Angeles a beautifully accurate visual metaphor for the city itself, and Hollywood in particular. So many people flock to Los Angeles in the pursuit of grand dreams only to leave mentally and physically crushed and penniless. This reality is further captured by the black background, which represents the balance between Life’s joys and pains.

This is a very random thought, but appropriate for the subject matter. I have an affinity for nature documentaries and while I enjoy observing and studying wildlife, the truth is, a lioness will nurture her cubs in one scene and will be hanging from the jugular of a zebra in the next, or will even destroy the offspring of competing species with fervent hatred. This is life, and this is just the way it is and, will continue to be.

The artist and optimist in me wants to see these murals inspire everyone who gazes upon them for many years to come, but, instead of believing solely that Life Is Beautiful, I must resign myself to believing that, in Life, there is beauty—of which the eye of the beholder should interpret and come to an individualized conclusion—scattered amongst everything else, and therefore, Life just is.

In believing that Life just is, though, I realize that I am taking away from the romance that comes with pondering Life’s meaning or purpose. But I want to assert that even if my interpretation on this artwork is completely misguided and I come off as being artistically uninformed, know with absolute certainty that I am grateful for Life: yesterday, today, and tomorrow, the good, the bad, and the indifferent.

Life is. And I am grateful.