Find Beauty

I labeled my last post “Find Beauty” and it occurred to me that I should probably explain that philosophy.

Years ago I used to ride the “L” to work. One of the buildings that backed onto the tracks had a homemade sign nailed to its rickety deck. Hand-drawn letters spelled out FIND BEAUTY in glittery paint. The juxtaposition of the rundown back porch with the aggressively upbeat sign always caught my attention. I was inspired by the friendly commandment and made a point to follow its instruction.

Finding Beauty is not always easy. Some things are obviously beautiful: sunsets that burn up the atmosphere, the soft blush of a new bloom, a heart-wrenching ballad. There is hidden beauty, however, in less obvious places: the rainbow in an oil splotch in the parking lot, the precision of flesh-eating beetles, the bare branches of a dead tree reaching in vain into the sky. Although Beauty is always present, sometimes we need to seek out its hiding place. My mission to Find Beauty became a daily exercise in seeing. And like any exercise, when I practiced it, it became easier to do.

I no longer consciously Find Beauty everyday. It's become a way of being over the years and I don't even notice I'm doing it now. On occasion, however, something will be so striking, so arresting that I realize I'm having a Find Beauty moment.

So, where did you Find Beauty today?