Day 28: Beauty

I am a person with over 13,000 photos on my phone's camera roll.  I am a person who cannot resist a supple suede boot, a heap of soft yarns, a trending accessory that strikes me.  I am someone who grows obsessed instantaneously.  Formerly, I saw it as a pitfall.. I am drawn to so many "things," which can be regarded as materialistic.  Working in an industry that is heavily focused on outside appearances can make you feel that way.  Unless, of course you reshape your outlook and seek the positive connections between yourself and the allure of all in which you are drawn to.  I've come to understand and respect that it is a wonderful thing to appreciate beauty in all forms.  How we dress is an outward reflection of our emotional state.  Taking moments to appreciate the craftsmanship of a hand-knit garment, every stitch carefully curated, infused with the mood of the maker in that moment, wanting to replicate that beauty in your own individual way.  I aspire to embolden that quality in others, (and it often results in excessive shopping; for that I apologize in advance).  

On the contrary, what I've also grasped is how it has promoted a state of inner tranquility.  Appreciating beauty in the external somehow ricochets and introspection subsequently transpires.  You begin accept your strife with grace and a second-nature intuitiveness reminds you: only beauty rests on the other side. All those messy mishaps, heartaches and setbacks, requiring immeasurable courage and cleanup, embody beauty, waiting to be unearthed.  Peeling back at those moments, we catch sight of our power.  Those who SEE beauty, seek it in all things, even hardship.

And you ask yourself, is there anything more beautiful than that?

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