Proximities (Pt. 1)  15-minute read | By Carole Haddad he seduction of beauty at a distance, like the spell of a mirage, holds me captive as long as I believe it will stay perfect upon contact. By contrast, nearness is the most difficult state in which to see beauty– so the absent, hidden, and distant attract, while the present, the ordinary, fees flat and insufferable. The contents of a mirage, by definition, can’t be approached, touched, or realized – but I allow their fantasy of perfection to exist because in it, I’m not asked to engage, not asked to move…