“Find a bit of beauty in the world today. Share it. If you can’t find it, create it. Some days this may be hard to do. Persevere.” – Lisa Bonchek Adams (1969-2015)
This is a hard time. There’s no getting around it. But I keep finding glimmers of light and bits of beauty, online and offline.
Here’s a collection I started on Wakelet — a floral designer who shares a daily arrangement of what she finds in her own yard; a DJ who is broadcasting dance parties; a highlight reel of baseball joy…
Where are you finding beauty? How are you creating it? Please share in the comments below.
Featured image: Holly Carlisle’s “seasonal sketch” of miner’s lettuce, aucuba, and daffodils. ROSEGOLDEN is her studio in Birmingham, Alabama.
Thanks, Susannah — I think of Lisa each day and “find a bit of beauty” has become my mantra. One of the ways I find a bit of beauty each day is by writing haiku — steeped in ambiguity, but also keen observation of the present moment. The process allows me to notice the beauty and wonder amidst the fear and uncertainty. I post my haiku on by blog (stress resources.com/blog) and also on Twitter #haikuchallenge20 where I encourage others to read, write and share.
Stay safe, stay well,
Pam
Thank you, Pam! I keep a couple of books of poetry at my bedside, closing every day and hopefully infusing my sleep with a beautiful image.
Here’s a favorite:
The Sun, by Mary Oliver
Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful
than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon
and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone–
and how it slides again
out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower
streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance–
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love–
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure
that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you
as you stand there,
empty-handed–
or have you too
turned from this world–
or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?
#ChalkTheWalk has evidently been around for years, but it was just for sidewalk art. Now that we’re stuck in our neighborhoods, it’s got a new life.
On a walk the other day I took a new walk home, and was glad: here’s a Facebook post with some of what I found. https://www.facebook.com/epatientdave/posts/10220860566681775
I posted it on our NextDoor peer-to-peer community network, which is where I learned about #ChalkTheWalk.
Then @TheLizArmy Salmi tweeted that she did the same in her driveway – a beautiful stained glass diamond, six feet on a side, so strolling neighbors can confidently stop and chat – at a safe distance. (#ChalkYourWalk, for her) https://twitter.com/TheLizArmy/status/1241879658741657606
These folks (on Liz’s timeline) got the kids involved and went “whole walk.” https://twitter.com/dmb1077/status/1241882055891394563