What are some everyday things you find beautiful?
I guess this might be considered a spinoff of the How We View Ourselves Thread, but anyways, over the past few months I have begun to take notice and enjoy life's simpler pleasures. Finding something beautiful in everyday life. I try to stay informed about what's going on in the world, but all too often reading the news is a rather depressing daily activity. So, everyday I make it a point to identify one thing, or event I find uniquely beautiful. Then I can tell myself that despite all the depressing news stories that are reported there are this infinite amount of these beautiful I like to hope a majority if not all of the population is enjoying on a daily basis (I know for a fact that isn't true, but I like to think so anyway).
One particular event that has stuck with me happened last week. My campus is in the middle of an urban area, so rarely is there a time in the day when there aren't cars or sirens or something making noise. Except later at night during the week. At about 2 in the morning I was frustrated with thesis and decided to go for a run. I ran up to the track without seeing/hearing a single person, car, or anything. It was just myself and my thoughts. It had cooled down significantly so there was that condensation/steam stuff (definitely not a science person, but you get my point) coming off the ground being illumniated by the lights around campus in the distance, but the track itself and the fields around the track were unlit. I did a full track workout in the cold, dark night all by myself without any interruptions of any kind. Just the sounds of an occasional car passing. When I finished I just felt a great rush come over me. Almost as if it was confirming what I believed that if you take a second and just observe the world around you in your own way you realize how beautiful it really is.
I don't know, there's a lot of these little things I notice on a daily basis that really make me smile. Even though they may seem insignificant to other people. Does anybody else notice these little things?
The view from my bedroom window! I just moved to Brooklyn and I can see the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building and what I think might be the Brooklyn Bridge (maybe? It could also be the Williamsburg bridge. Pretty either way!) from my window. It is so beautiful at night and early in the morning when the sun comes up! I love it... even if my apartment is totally gross! (Well, not totally...)
Almost as if it was confirming what I believed that if you take a second and just observe the world around you in your own way you realize how beautiful it really is.
I don't know, there's a lot of these little things I notice on a daily basis that really make me smile. Even though they may seem insignificant to other people. Does anybody else notice these little things?
It makes me incredibly happy to hear you say (type?) this. one of my classes has been discussing art and beauty lately and it is the most frustrating topic to discuss as a group. There were so many definitions of beauty and art being tossed around and it just made me sad. I think that by trying to define beauty, you limit what it can be; so i refuse to define it.
I also think that beauty is everywhere; it's all in perspective I guess. I saw a squashed and rotting tomato in my parking lot last week and found it to be really intriguing. I was sad no one got to eat the tomato, but the way it looked on the ground and the way the juices ran and dried in the sun looked amazing.
I don't know, there's a lot of these little things I notice on a daily basis that really make me smile. Even though they may seem insignificant to other people.
What I find beautiful today is your sentiment.
I live by a small mountain lake. I love walking around it in the afternoon. From one vantage point, the warm-toned afternoon sun sparkles off of the water like a prism. I know exactly what to expect, but I still nearly tear up every time from gratitude that I get to live here. I work in the city and have a job that can be stressful, between office politics and the work itself. I could get really tied up in the drama, but the lake and the backdrop of trees and the birds and the towns folk ground me and keep me appreciative, so that when I drive home I leave the day behind and come home to a place where I get to be compassionate, strong, and nice.
I am always struck by the deep and simple beauty I see when I look into Cody's eyes. They're all different shades of caramel and I feel as awestruck as when I'm out camping and look up and can see the Milky Way in its entirety and its intracacies. That's what's beautiful - my dog's eyes are as elegant as the Milky Way....that makes me smile right now :)
A red traffic light swinging in the wind against a blue and white sky.
The smile on the ministers face when giving out the Eucharist.
Old ladies helping one another in a store.
in my old apartment my kitchen window would always get covered in ice particles that would change everday depending on if it got a chance to thaw during the afternoon or not. it was always such a beautiful and different pattern each time it seemed and then having the sun glow through it was amazing.
Old ladies helping one another in a store.
Ooohhh... that's a good one. I really like elderly couples helping each other in the store. I'm commitment phobic and the only time I feel a bit regretful about it is when I see people who have probably already celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary helping each other slowly navigate the changing world. It is beautiful.
To quote Elder Aaron Davis in Latter Days, "Sometimes it all still feels like a mass of dots. But more and more these days, I feel like we're all connected. And it's beautiful... and funny... and good."
I used to go to this bar called henry ford's that was literally the bar that time forgot, the valet was almost 70, as was the waitstaff. Anyways there was this couple there, celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, they had on matching kilts ,fyi. Anyways, Lyle, the loungy piano singer dedicated a song for them to slow dance to, and the chorus actually included the line "the one night stand that turned into forever" I think the couple might have been too old to actually notice the choice of song, but everytime I think about them I smile, beautiful, yet also funny.
I really like in the spring when the rain comes in patches, and the leaves are a really bright yellow green. stay with me folks, so the background sky is a dark, ominous grey, but the sun blasts through into the tree, making the green almost a lime color. I love that.
I have revelations like the one you described while I'm running/biking through the metroparks ALL THE TIME! I was so inspired that I brought along my camera on one of the bike rides, and took photos of the most beautiful textures I could find (the sun shining through fall leaves, the bark of a tree, gnarled branches, pebbles, etc). Then I wanted to make this a public message, so I printed the photos and cut out the letters FIND ME to put back into the landscape at different scenes in the park, aimed at encouraging other passersby to go searching for the beauty. But then something sad happened (and please don't hate me, environmentalists!): while I was setting up, a big gust of wind blew half of my letters into the creek, which was about 15 feet down from the edge so I couldn't even retrieve them with branches! :( But, always one to find the beauty, the letters did look pretty cool floating along with the fallen leaves, so at least I have that photo to remember how even very bad things can be beautiful...
Treeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees. Fresh young leaves on grand old deciduous trees, oaks and lindens and maples and birches and beeches and hawthorns and so on and so forth. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
It's late spring down here in New Zealand; and after four years in the north island I've moved back home to Christchurch - our Garden City - which is magnificent with its huge old trees looking their most gloriously green (and copper and bronze and lime, but mostly green). I just can't get enough! We took a walk through the botanic gardens today and drank it all in - the shapes of the branches against the blue sky, sunlight through the leaves, the breeze gently blowing through. Several times I would walk under one of the trees, and stand staring straight up for a couple of minutes... speechless.
I agree w/ H-H. Your sentiment is a thing of beauty!
I try to see everything in life as beautiful, because when you get right down to it....it is!!! :) :D ;D :)
i find myself struck by things like this often. i really like that i can enjoy simple things like this, but i think sometimes it works against me in that i really devote myself to little things that i am doing/experiencing. things that other people do in the background or for some other purpose i can spend HOURS immersed in ::)... i dunno...
"What are some everyday things you find beautiful?" A very Zen question., and a very relevant one in this age of Blackberry's, Tivo and high-speed Internet.
A few things I find beautiful in my life are ...
-Old train cars immobile on the tracks
-A mug of hot tea on a chilly day
-The words "I love you" from my family
-A little old woman wearing a big fancy hat
-Slipping into a sweet, deep sleep and remembering my dream the next day
A nice big dump in my toilet bowl after a long day of constipation.
A nice big dump in my toilet bowl after a long day of constipation.
LMAO... beautiful... ;D
The lacework of a tree against a blue sky. Even bare branches can be beautiful! It always makes me think that those who are suffering hard times, and think they have nothing to offer, can be beautiful to the observant eye who sees their strength in faciing their situation.
When was the last time you really looked at a fruit? Take a mango, for instance...the shadings of colour. An orange, the texture (not to mention the smell).
And--not vegan--but I think brown eggs are beautiful. The shape, the curves, the colour, the way it occupies space.
Oh, how I wish I could draw. :'(
Spider webs. I'm absolutely terrified of spiders, but their handiwork amazes me. They are especially beautiful in the early morning when the sky is just starting to turn and the first rays of light catch dew drops on the web.
When was the last time you really looked at a fruit? Take a mango, for instance...the shadings of colour. An orange, the texture (not to mention the smell).
Oh, how I wish I could draw. :'(
That was actually an assignment I had as a freshman in art school. We looked at fresh & dried fruits up close or under a microscope, then painted what we saw in watercolors. Then we added in seed pods, shells, anything natural we found interesting... Just do that and you'll learn to draw in no time!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a247/bebegunn17/immonen.jpg
First dusting of snow in the mountains here the other morning. Watching the dogs run around in it in a totally euphoric state. Seeing the tips of their noses covered with a little mound of it. But mostly, like Dinkfeet said, looking into their eyes and remembering the eyes of all the lost souls I've rescued. Thinking about that if I had not come along on that very day, at that very minute, and perhaps that very second, most likely our paths would not have crossed......and they would no longer be eyes that still open. Sometimes by putting your own life on hold, getting your own plans for your day ruined...by making it your own problem, instead of hoping someone will take care of, or do something about it....pays off so wonderfully in the end. My wish is that more would see that.
Remembering my parents.....and all that they taught me....everyday.
i find this beautiful, this place where so many of us who believe in very basic, common principles can come together and connect with each other.
:)
( do mods get to give brownie points? ;))
edited because i can't type
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