There are many metaphors in life, but few catch the eye like beautiful architecture. Architecture provides us tactile and tangible lessons throughout history. Beautiful buildings created with a resiliency can literally withstand the test of time while keying us in to the skills of the past. Similarly, many beautiful and resilient cultural lessons passed down from our ancestors have also withstood the test of time. Whether we are architects designing the next great building, or simple weekend warriors attempting to maximize our heath, we would be wise to heed the lessons bestowed upon us by the beautiful buildings and lessons of the past.
Roger Scruton speaks about beautiful houses and how, regardless of their flaws, people will spend exorbitant amounts of time and effort to preserve them, simply because of their beauty. In other words, certain aspects of our life are well worth spending countless hours of time and effort to preserve, regardless of whether this effort is visible to others. Our health is certainly one of these aspects. We may not be able to control all aspects of our health and well-being, but those that we can control are certainly well worth preserving, regardless of how much effort is required. (And we all know the dirty little secret that things that require more effort provide more reward).
Like a beautiful home or architectural marvel—flaws and all—beauty is worth preserving, even if it means overpaying for copper downspouts when we could go with aluminum, pruning the bushes in our garden when we could pay someone else to do it, or spending countless hours removing the suckers from our tomato bushes when it may be OK to let them go. Our bodies are no different, we can cut corners or throw in the extra time, particularly when nobody is looking. Like those copper downspouts and slate roofs that are initially more expensive, we will be rewarded handsomely when they last for a century (as will our children, grandchildren, or whomever moves in next). The work does not end there as constant maintenance is required. Additionally, the house will thank you for keeping it beautiful through the years by activating the reward centers of your brain every time you approach it and view your beautiful work from afar.
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“Better health care will depend, not on some new therapeutic standard, but on the level and of willingness and competence to engage in self-care. The recovery of this power depends on the recognition of our present delusions.”
– Ivan Ilich, Limits to Medicine
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Our bodies parallel these beautiful buildings. They require constant attention and work, even though it may not be noticed, or it may seem overboard at times. We must constantly work to avoid the atrophy, whether it is our bodies or brains. When we follow an Intentional Lifestyle, we are paid in dividends as our bodies age gracefully. After several decades, they too will thank you for the time and effort you put in preserving them.
At the Exercise Oncology and Resiliency Center where I am lucky enough to spend almost half my week, the participants there will tell you I sound like a broken record, but our bodies require this attention. For instance, we are all at risk for falls, and this worsens as we age. Those of us previously treated for cancer are at an even larger risk of falls along with ensuing fractures. In fact, fall rates are around 5% per year (and this is increased for individuals treated for cancer). Worse yet, fracture risk is 1-3% per year. A fall and hip fracture may be a death sentence for many of us. What are we doing about it? You may say, that risk is years down the road, and that is exactly the wrong approach as it guarantees you will find yourself behind the 8 ball. If you aren’t getting your strength and balance under control now by getting your neurons firing cleanly and effectively to your muscles (which requires heavy weights, compound movements, and lifting to volitional failure, including exercises that force you to hit failure), you certainly are not going to do it in 20, 30, or 40 years.
Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Built for resilience and certainly worth maintaining.
Architects should not design ugly houses with poor foundations, assuming they will repair both later. Such strategies brought us Le Corbusier’s (i.e. “the man who ruined a century of cities”) unfixable flat-roofed sterile boxes leaking and caving in from snow buildup, the disastrously ugly Pruitt-Igoe projects in St. Louis, and the ten ugliest buildings in the world. All of the latter, I guarantee, will be torn down at some point, while buildings like the Duomo in Florence and other ancient beauties around the world will be preserved for centuries to come. In another example, think of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was built for beauty and resiliency, obviously with some miscalculations by the unknown architect or building crew. Yet, while it remains tilting some 10 degrees to one side, there have been eternal efforts to preserve the beauty. The Italians are certainly spending exorbitant amounts of time and effort to preserve it. Capitalizing on beauty while building for resilience and permanence, as opposed to obsolescence, has its merits…
The convent of Sainte Marie de La Tourette near Lyon. Nuns used to hit me on the regular at my Catholic grade school. Having them live here would certainly be payback.
(As a side note, if you want to see what the mental disorder of extreme disdain of beauty looks like check out Le Corbusier’s attempt to demolish Paris).
We are no different. We have the choice of building for resilience and permanence, not obsolescence. We can preserve beauty, push for resilience, and provide constant maintenance; once we realize these factors are not optional, but required, we can enjoy a long, rewarding, and beautiful life.
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