beauty Archives - Page 21 of 23

Beauty in Rain

September 14, 2009 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

It was cloudy most of the day, and this evening it finally rained.
The clouds sort of matched my evening, if you know what I mean. I was getting dinner ready much later than I wanted to, and generally fighting off a feeling of discouragement. As I walked through my dining room to get something, the glistening sidewalks and street caught my eye.

Then I looked up.
It was still raining, but the sky was so lovely I had to pause in my cooking to go outside and appreciate it.
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The sun was setting, but the sky was blue and beautiful. I loved seeing a few clouds that still glistened with the last light of the sun.
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If the sky is the daily bread of the eyes, then I needed beauty more than food tonight to feel better.
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I stood there, breathing deeply the smells of falling rain as I marveled, once again, at the beauty of the sky.
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I was reminded of a favorite passage in the book Crow and Weasel, by Barry Lopez.

Grizzly Bear has helped Crow and Weasel, who were starving, and together they are enjoying the sunset.
“Sometimes it is what is beautiful that carries you,” said Weasel weakly from his bed.
“Yes. It can carry you to the end. It is your relationship to what is beautiful, not the beautiful thing by itself, that carries you,” said Grizzly Bear.
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Tonight I gave thanks for the gift of a beautiful sky as it rained. It carried me through a difficult moment.
I am grateful for a loving God who places many simple gifts of beauty in our paths to carry us, if we will just see them, through the rainy times in life.

Shades of White

August 1, 2009 jennifer Color

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Someday I will have a clean house, all the time. Right now I have a clean house, some of the time, and it lasts about 20 seconds or less. Less, usually, because my little ones just go play in the clean rooms while I work in the dirty ones.

So when I’m craving the feeling that things are tidy and relaxing, sometimes I have to take myself on a little tour and just pause to enjoy the spots and corners that are inviting.
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I realized that one of the things I appreciate the most is the color white. I love the way white lets you appreciate texture so much. I love how calming it is. And I love the way it looks with blue. So I decided to snap a few photos of different shades of white in some of my favorite little spots.
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Mirrors, linens, frames… I love the simple beauty of white.
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I think that patterns, texture, lines and so forth all show up better on white, where there’s no color to interfere with my appreciation of it all. This is a vintage runner that I bought for around $5. It’s not a fine linen, but I really like it.
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This star hangs over my front door, which happens to be where my boys most love to throw balls (go figure). So….. every so often, the wonderful vintage star comes crashing to the floor, gouging walls and floor, losing countless pieces of paint, and getting all bent up on the points. At this point there is always much apology, much discussion over the fact that we have bedrooms, basement, toyroom, and, heaven forbid! the outdoors in which to throw balls instead of in the entryway, and I always walk away shaking my head a little at the workings of a boy’s brain. So we’ll just say that I really appreciate what white is left on this star and I sincerely hope we’ve learned our lesson. I suppose I could give in and move it, but it’s really quite perfect where it is, and I’m really quite certain that we can learn to throw balls in more appropriate locations.
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For Mother’s Day, my sweet parents bought us an old, used piano. It is wonderful. Somebody painted it white.
In any other room, in most any other house, it would look out of place. But in this room in this house, it is perfect.
I love it. I love the legs on it. And my kids love to play it.
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I love little spots that are serene and attract light.
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If you were going to wander your house in search of happy glimpses, what color would you pause most often to gaze at?
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For me, today, it was definitely white against a blue backdrop. They’re both lovely colors!

Look up!

July 24, 2009 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

This afternoon I decided to brave the heat (yes I’m being a wimp but I have a good excuse) and clear my front porch of all the kid clutter that they’ve left behind.

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I’ll list some of the items I found there: socks, toys, empty cups with spoons in them from yesterday’s snow cone adventures, trash, jewelry, and a selection of Dad’s tools from this morning’s skateboard workshop.

It’s nice to get things put away, swept up, and looking a little more inviting.

As I was walking around the house to put something away, I looked up.

And something wonderful happened.
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I was instantly struck by the beauty of the sky: the gorgeous blue and fluffy white clouds everywhere.
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It reminded me of a quote I memorized years ago:
“The sky is the daily bread of the eye.”

I paused to turn around in a circle and drink in the beauty in every direction.
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I realized what a blessing it can be to look up in life.
My day was enhanced by simply absorbing a bit of beauty that had been there for the taking for who knows how long.
I’m so glad I didn’t miss it. I wasn’t aware that my heart was hungry for such a sight.

I realized how often I get my head down, focusing only on the task at hand, on getting through or just enduring.
Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes to look up and drink in the big picture, remembering that there is much of beauty and life and happiness to be enjoyed.
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Much of our experience is a matter of perspective.
In raising my eyes today, my perspective was enlarged.
I felt more appreciative of the simple abundance around me, more aware of the gift of life.
I walked inside feeling like a happier person than when I walked out.
I wonder how many times a day God has gifts like this just waiting for us? How often has He prepared something of great beauty to buoy us up on our journey? Do we notice? And if we do, do we let it change us?
How can we receive his gifts if we don’t see them?

My invitation today: look up! Look around! Notice the simple gifts that are waiting for you, and partake.
Have a wonderful day!