You know one of the many many many reasons you are like one of my best friends is that you have one hell of a brain on your shoulders, everything in that second last paragraph is right. And it is Sad.
That always thinking thing is probably the cause of my insomnia, there is always something running through my head 🙂
I would have to say that wherever you live you can find beauty, wether it is in a country or in the middle of the urban jungle. The beauty, and the uglyness comes from the people. Other then that beauty can be found in any object. So I guess it is just a matter of finding a community that you feel comfortable with.
and for the last question, no there is no need at all, it is true that out of pain can come a certin clarity of things. I think that it doesn’t matter what state you are in you can still be enlightened