is 'beauty' transient?

I have taken many practice shots of this gerbra over the last week. I wondered at what point should I stop using it? And how do I know which exact day does it become no longer beautiful and hence useful to me?

Many years ago I sat by my mother's bedside as her body failed her, and she said to me "...but I still feel 18 on the inside." At the time I thought I understood, but now with the years passing, I do understand.

In this shot I have tried to show that losing 'beauty' does not necessarily mean losing 'life'.

[Denise]

Ah yes....we all fade with time. Lovely shot.

[Nat Stuart Perks]

fav!

[Amy Spada]

Love this... it's aging well :)

[Breanna Gard-Rodriguez]

though it may be wilting it's still beautiful. Great Job.

[photoite]

beautiful lyn

[Garine]

This is so lovely. Beautiful lighting and colours

[maribelrivera]

This is still beautiful, and it will be beautiful when its petals have fallen off...we tend to stick to stereotypes, but beauty is something much more ample than we usually consider it....

[CK]

Stunning

[CK]

Oh, just had to return and fav!

[Izzy Mathie]

saw this the day you uploaded it and wanted to comment but i couldnt quite find the words! I love the waning beauty with the vitality of the colours, the sense of time, of moving on, the optimistic looking upwards to the light. this is really gorgeous. so simply done too and with no frills. s'perfect! thanks for this :)

[Lyn Todd]

@izzymathie I really appreciate you returning and leaving such thoughtful words! I feel really touched that you have 'seen' what I was trying to capture - motion / life/ usefullness in an object that is normally discarded once it has lost it's physical 'beauty'. Thankyou so much.