beautiful, defined

We're talking about the word "beautiful." What does it mean and what are its obligations? How is it different from handsome? And who among us is which or neither? Here, another orchid spike starts to lean, slightly heavy with buds, a mere day or two from full flowering mojo. These plants are growing. We may choose to identify, distract, delude, console, or even destroy ourselves in the name of beauty, vanity, and achievement, but beauty is born in perfect form in our midst every day, a model we can't replicate: