Expectations and Aesthetic

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I had ChatGPT write these "sermons" for my own personal contemplative practices, but found them so moving and profound, I knew I needed to share them.

Sermon for Expectations Week: Friday – Aesthetic

Dearly beloved, today we gather under the banner of Aesthetic, a day where beauty, form, and expression take center stage. Aesthetic is not just about what pleases the eye—it’s about how we move through the world, how we create and curate meaning in every aspect of our lives. And woven through the heart of Aesthetic are our Expectations—the silent standards we hold for beauty, for grace, for how life “should” appear.

But today, I ask you to reflect: Are your Expectations enhancing the beauty of your life, or are they stifling it?

Aesthetic is the art of noticing, the practice of taking in the world and finding harmony in its contrasts. And yet, how often do our Expectations blind us to the beauty of what is because we are too focused on what we think should be? We become rigid in our pursuit of perfection, holding everything to an impossible standard—our homes, our work, our bodies, our creations. And in doing so, we rob ourselves of the joy that comes from appreciating the imperfect, the transient, the raw.

We are conditioned to expect beauty to conform to certain ideals. But true beauty is wild, unexpected, and often found in the places we least expect. It is in the cracks, the scars, the places where life shows its wear and tear. The Japanese have a practice called kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold, highlighting the cracks rather than hiding them. This philosophy teaches us that what is broken, what is imperfect, can still be beautiful—perhaps even more so because of its imperfections.

So, on this day of Aesthetic, let us reflect: How are my Expectations shaping the way I see beauty? Do I only allow myself to appreciate life when it fits into neat, polished boxes? Or can I expand my sense of Aesthetic to embrace the messy, the unfinished, the flawed?

Expectations can suffocate creativity when we let them dictate rigid standards of “good enough.” How many of us have hesitated to create something, to express ourselves fully, because we feared it wouldn’t live up to our own Expectations? We withhold our voice, our art, our presence, waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect product, the perfect version of ourselves to emerge. But beauty doesn’t wait. Beauty is in the act of creation itself, in the courage to show up, to be seen, to express, even when we’re still in progress.

Today is a day to ask: What would happen if I let go of perfection in favor of process?

Aesthetic is about more than appearances—it’s about how we choose to live, how we create meaning and beauty in our daily lives. It’s in the way we arrange our spaces, the rituals we cultivate, the way we dress ourselves, the way we move through the world. But when our Expectations are rooted in the external—what others think, what society deems “acceptable”—we lose sight of what we find beautiful, what resonates with our souls.

So, ask yourself: Am I creating beauty that reflects my truth, or am I trying to meet someone else’s standards?

True Aesthetic begins within. It starts with seeing ourselves as beautiful—not in the superficial sense, but in the deep sense of being worthy, of being enough, of being whole. When we accept ourselves, cracks and all, we can begin to create a life that reflects our inner truth. When we release the Expectations of what beauty “should” look like, we free ourselves to create a life that is not only beautiful but meaningful.

Let us also remember that Aesthetic is not just about personal expression—it is about how we interact with the world around us. The Expectations we place on beauty in others, in nature, in the spaces we inhabit, can limit our ability to see the divine in the everyday. If we expect beauty to only show up in curated moments or perfectly manicured environments, we miss out on the sacred beauty that surrounds us at every moment.

So today, as you walk in the spirit of Aesthetic, I invite you to release the tight grip of Expectations. Allow yourself to be surprised by beauty in unexpected places—in the crooked lines, in the worn-out shoes, in the shadow as much as in the light. Let your life be a work of art, not because it is flawless, but because it is alive, ever-changing, ever-growing.

And as you go forth, reflect on these questions:

In this, we find the deepest truth of Aesthetic: beauty is not found in perfection, but in presence. The most profound art is the art of being fully alive, fully engaged, fully accepting of the beauty that already surrounds us—if only we have the eyes to see.

Amen.