The Paradox of Taste
Why developing your taste for the finer things in life can feel like a loss.
When it comes to appreciating fine things, we must remember that it is first a skill, and any skill must be developed. Most likely, only after it is desired can we hone that ability. Largely, we develop skills after we first desire to have them. So appreciation is a matter of desire, a matter of taste. We must first have the eye to recognize its value, which is a divine mystery how this happens, and then we're able to develop a desire for it, and then we're able to start developing our skill in being able to appraise it. It is in the act of appraisal we develop our taste and what speaks to us and why.
The same is true when it comes to the skill of appreciating people. We must recognize that mostly everyone has the ability to develop the skill of having finer relationships, but they choose not to. We may believe that because we are honest, we are valued. No, we are valuable to everyone but not valued by everyone. Honesty is both a luxury and an inconvenience depending on the situation and individual. But one who recognizes true value will always take honesty that feels like a slap from a friend rather than a lie that feels like a kiss from an enemy.
Swap in any virtue, any honorable trait, or considerate qualities, and the results are the same. Ironically, the more we increase our value, the less we are valued or sought after by most people. And this is where taste comes back into the picture. Rare individuals, who are aware of their uniqueness, active in their self-evaluation, proud of their personal victories over their private shadows, rooted in a sense of purpose, and led by a vision illuminated by tested values are indeed rare. And with rarity, whether in art or an individual, it has to be first seen as desirable, from a true internal recognition, to be worthy of attention. Simply, you have to have taste to truly value and appreciate what is refined. And the less you understand, the less capacity you have to appreciate and feel the love it could bring to you.
If you feel that the more you develop yourself with truth, the farther you are from others, allow this to come to mind: The finest things in life are "celebrated" by mostly everyone but only actually sought after by a few and actually enjoyed by even fewer. You are simply becoming more rare and requiring that it takes more from those around you (like you first required from yourself) to appreciate what is good and true within your character, personality and pursuits.
You are not pretentious; you're precious.
Know that the journey it took to discover the diamonds deep within you is a journey most will not take. Your responsibility now is to remind yourself that your value is not based on the misconceptions of the masses but the integrity of your own makeup. Keep living, thriving, and climbing in your value and give it to the world with no expectations of affirmation. Don't seek to be understood but seek to live out a truly rich life led by wisdom and the values it invested into you. God will supply the rest. Allow the perceived isolation to be a confirmation of your ascension. Remember, though you are unique, you are not in a class of your own; there are many others before, beside, and behind you doing the same thing.
Keep shining first for God who has blessed you with the ability to see what are true riches in this world, for yourself to enjoy the fullness of your own life, and to be a reminder to those who are tempted to dull their own shine in a world convinced of its mediocrity.