The Beauty Around Me

I have been blessed with time to visit my daughter in Nashville. Part of the visit was to come and dog sit, but the second part of the trip is now for spending time with my beautiful daughter and her boyfriend (and the grand dog)! This trip is also on the advent of another part of this time away from home. I am headed to Chicago to meet up with some of my writing group. Our leader has suggested we use this time leading up to the retreat I will attend on Saturday, August 5, to pay attention to the beauty in the world around us. I think this task couldn't have come at a better time to explore beauty.

As usual I see connections between my reading and writing lives. I just finished reading a book titled Hello Beautiful.The father in the book made his daughters feel loved and empowered because he called them beautiful.We have been on several outings to places that have made me think about the beauty of the earth. We have enjoyed food that was delectable and produced at different farms and such. We explored a market area where we entered a store that sold spices that are ground in Colorado and shipped to the store once a week so things are pretty fresh. Another shop we visited was a flower shop. It was called Amelia's Flower Shop. What attracted my attention? A picture book called Amelia and the Old New Truck is what caught my eye instantly. I read the sweet book written in verse that tells of the story of how the author created her business. At the end of her book there is an author's note where she explains that when she was creating her business and the use of her dad's truck, she always knew a picture book was going to come out of this business venture. There is so much beauty in her story and her store. Today we made it to another restaurant and shop where we ate delicious foods. This amazing place is called The Cafe at Thistle Farms. It is a safe space that was created by a woman who endured child abuse in her own life. This sanctuary helps women who have experienced trauma (Abuse: sexual, alcohol, trafficking). Their mission is to provide a safe place to live, a meaningful job, and lifelong support. Not only were the restaurant and shop beautiful, but the peaceful feeling we left with added to the beauty of this organization's purpose. I found beauty in the name of the organization/restaurant/shop as thistles are considered weeds. They can grow on streets like those that many of these women have walked, yet an interesting thing about thistles is that they have deep roots and can survive drought. They are resilient! They have parallel qualities that these survivors embody. I find that absolutely beautiful!

This evening I was blessed with the opportunity to attend an author event. Ann Patchett had a book launch for her new book Tom Lake.The beauty in this event was being surrounded by people from all walks of life who were readers like me and being able to have conversations about books and our reading lives. It just made me think about how connections over commonalities can help us extend a smile or pleasantries with strangers. Hopefully those exchanges make impressions on each other's hearts. It is one way we can add beauty to the world. To cap the day off, my daughter and I got to watch a movie together based on a book we both read and enjoy some flavored popcorn and a little vino! It can't get more beautiful than that!

I am sure that much more beauty will reveal itself to me throughout the rest of my stay. I look forward to that, but by far my priceless time with my daughter is the most beautiful! Take a few moments of your day and observe the beauty around you. You will be surprised at how much we miss because we lead such busy lives. Enjoy all the beauty you see and experience!