Aesthetic space: Honoring beauty in teaching and learning
Throughout history, philosophers have asserted that “the fundamental nature of the world is aesthetic.” Thinkers like Alfred North Whitehead, Gregory Bateson, James Hillman, Martin Foss, and Donald Winnicott all emphasized the profound connection between aesthetics and how we perceive the world. Interestingly, the word aesthetics comes from the Greek aisthanesthai, meaning “the ability to perceive.”
Archetypal psychologist James Hillman often referenced Marsilio Ficino, an ancient philosopher who said, “The world is an animal.” By this, he meant the world is alive and constantly speaking to us. Hillman elaborated:
“Aesthetics in this primordial sense involves sensing the things of the world in their particularity and being affected by the many ways things present themselves.”
Our response to this call—the world’s “call for attention”—is what we call aesthetics.
This leads to the concept of “aesthetic space.” It is only when we make space for beauty that beauty reveals itself to us. In that pause, when we stop to notice and appreciate the particulars, we enter aesthetic space.
My book, Getting Messy: A Guide to Taking Risks and Opening the Imagination, is a call for aesthetic space in teaching, training, coaching, and mentoring.
Beauty in Learning and Teaching
For years, I found myself in dry, joyless educational settings, yearning for something deeper. I wanted to understand teaching and learning as beautiful, life-giving, and creative—not as a series of tasks to achieve abstract goals in the distant future.
True teaching and learning require courage, an open heart, and a willingness to be vulnerable. But when we focus solely on goals, we lose sight of the inherent beauty in the process. We miss the depth of the present moment and the opportunity to connect with something greater.
Aesthetics, closely linked to beauty, is not about “refinement” or “polish.” It’s about feeling the depth of something—about sensing and appreciating with our hearts.
Elaine Scarry, a professor at Harvard, wrote in On Beauty and Being Just:
- Beauty carries a sense of abundance.
- Beauty inspires generosity.
- Beauty can lead to forgiveness.
- Beauty offers us the opportunity to heal.
James Joyce described beauty as, “the communication of the hidden power behind the world, shining through some physical form.”
As teachers, trainers, coaches, or mentors, we serve something beyond ourselves. If we’re present and aware, we can recognize beauty shining through the physical form of our clients, students, or groups. When we make space for that beauty, it fuels inspiration, passion, and the desire to learn.
Aesthetic Space and the Process of “Un-Selfing”
Writer Iris Murdoch observed that beauty is anything that aligns us with unselfishness. She described it as a “process of un-selfing.”
At our best, as educators and guides, we are serving something larger than ourselves. By holding aesthetic space, we create an environment where true learning and transformation can flourish.
This is the essence of aesthetic space—where beauty, inspiration, and creativity come alive.
About Kim Hermanson, PhD
Kim Hermanson, PhD, is a visionary educator and faculty member at Pacifica Graduate Institute. An international expert on the psychology of metaphor, Kim is the author of Deep Knowing: Entering the Realm of Non-Ordinary Intelligence, praised by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as “very powerful stuff.”
She is also the author of Getting Messy: Taking Risks and Opening the Imagination, Sky’s the Limit (an Independent Publisher Award winner), and several articles with Csikszentmihalyi. Kim holds a PhD from the University of Chicago.
