Symmetry

Symmetry

Our psychology seeks symmetry. Pattern and balance feel right. We want our forces to complement one another. Excesses and deficiencies make us lopsided. Irregularity and unpredictability get us off our game.

Sight brings us butterflies, flowers and snowflakes, and lovely human faces, all ordered and proportionate. The symmetry we see is appealing. As symmetrical beings, we fit well in a symmetrical world. The familiarity is comforting.

I can feel symmetry when I am moving, especially when I am weightless in the water. Treading water, moving my limbs in calming rhythms, I trace out a symmetry in which my entire being participates. My brain soaks in the full-body patterned motion and all thoughts become positive. My brain responds to the symmetry with pleasure.

We can hear symmetry in music. Give a listen to Bach’s Prelude in C Major (2:44 min) and enjoy the elegant symmetry. Soak it in.