Finding Beauty In Everyday Life.
The more I live this life, the more I realize that it is a gift, and that is meant to be accepted fully without hesitation of humility. It is the one gift that we don’t turn to the giver and say “you shouldn’t have”, as we hand it the back with a list of reason why. In fact it is the one gift we have no choice in receiving, but as soon as our eyes are open to awareness of our possession then there is a choice. How will I use this gift? We can not stow it away until we fit into it. It doesn’t come in handy for the recipe we have been waiting to try until the one ingredient that we would never buy otherwise is delivered in an overnight box. For some reason, the expectations of life is “money back guaranteed”, when in all actuality there is no place to which you buy it and if that is how we view it than the cost is greater than money itself. I want us all to enjoy our everyday life whether your a stay at home mom or a single man in an apartment so for the idea of finding beauty in everyday life, for me at least, is to be reminded of this gift that we have no matter how or what one sees as beauty.
I’ve been trying to remember my first understanding of beauty, I keep remembering a particular day in the summer at my Mammaw and Pappaw’s house. Though I know it can not be my first memory of something beautiful, it is one of the most potent memories right now in my mind.
During the summer breaks we would spend our day at either side of our grandparents until Mom and Dad would come and pick us up after work. Our Mammaw and Pappaw had built a beautiful cabin style home out in the country, it is a place built on disbelief of the fact of what they had is truly theirs, it is a place of blessings and thankfulness. I can only full understand this feeling now with all of the stories I now know, but at the time it was a feeling of ease even though I know now it was humble pride and a lifetime of hard work.
I came inside after playing by the small pond adorned with flowers and plants, feeding the fish that Pappaw kept, bright organge and creme cutting through the tops of the water, with the gallon jar that sat under the bench full of pellets, and acting as though I was a pioneer such as the ones I saw in the westerns he watched, as I filled the metal bucket full from the running old time pump system that filtered through the pond, and dumped it back out.
When I pushed opened the first screen door of the screened in porch, I could see Mammaw sitting in the bench seat that sunk into the corner of the kitchen through the loosely blinded windows. The sound of the metal screen door at the enterance of the home still echos in my mind as I opened the door, stepping up and turning to her. There was something special when my eyes adjusted to the window lit room, the light, flooding from the outer front windows that faced toward the pond where I thought I had hidden so well my 100th time feeding the fish, made a channel only towards Mammaw who sat patiently at her sewing machine at the heavy, wooden kitchen table hemming her jeans. I didn’t think the light was doing that outside. Was the light shinning just for her, just on my Mammaw? It encased her features in a way that highlighted her brown hair that was so effortless pinned up, a natural elegance that was never tired for just seemed to always happen. As she turned to ask me what I had been up to, the light began to bounce off the gold that held the small pearl of her ear ring and danced, shimmeringly, on the textured wall, two stepping along the tops of the handmade shelves and then suddenly finishing with a dipped on the edge and just as quickly as she turned her head they disappeared. Is that why women wear earrings? I thought.
As I continually replay this memory I realize why it sticks with me so much now. I knew my Mammaw was beautiful and to this day she is one of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, but that wasn’t just the only reason why I felt, as a kid, like that moment was a breath. Everything she had done in her home was done with intention, and out of expectation of contentment in the sense that what we have may not be much to others but it serves us well, and we find beauty in it. From the shelves Pappaw had made that held little trinkets to the garden space, it was intentional and when surrounded with just that, there is constant beauty.
How do we bring beauty into our everyday life? Well, I believe that we must understand just like that moment in my Mammaw’s kitchen, beauty is a breath. Whatever you choose to do, it must allow for a moment to breathe, to pause the thoughts in your worried mind that tosses and turns, it must quiet those even for a split second. The beauty you add or choose to look for must be reminders in your day to adjust your mindset. These things must give you a chance to smile, to laugh, to bring a joyful heart posture to your day.
Intentionality is the bricks we lay now so that when our circumstances and feelings don’t seem to hold blessings, we are able to find the beauty because the path is already paved.
One day while helping my Mammaw on my Mom’s side make her bed, she taught be about a simple way to bring beauty into even my bedding. She told me, as I was putting the top sheet on that was printed with beautiful red flowers, to put the print facing the mattress instead of the quilt. I asked her why she did that and she simply replied with, “Well, so you can enjoy it every time you get into bed.” Those moments of working a long side women who have been doing these kinds of chores for years and yet still choose to find beauty truly has inspired me. I have kept this in mind every time I put patterned sheets on my bed. Thank you Mammaw Phylis! Beauty can be found a long side someone you love, I encourage you to take the time with others, it is these moments where discipleship is instilled.
One of the first coffee table books I ever got was this book by Sally Clarkson, “Tea Time Discipleship.” It full of inspiration, recipes, devotionals, and practical ways we can make our home and our time to cultivate discipleship.
I was given a braided strand of lemon grass that a friend had grown in her garden, because she is someone who loves and appreciates herbs, she knows that I would apprecate it as well from our countless hours discussing and hunting through the woods searching for different specific plants, and of course just the special relationship that we have. I have kept that braid on the front of my car’s dash for over a year along with the rabbit foot that she gave me over 10 years ago. Something utterly simple, something I find beautiful because it was given to me by her. Those things are in a place where I am bound to see it everyday, and, those same items, have given me thousands of different thoughts. You see, I placed it there with the intention of having a constant reminder of someone who I love and thus loves me.
It is not about grand gestures here and before you get confused about what it looks like to bring beauty in everyday life, it’s not about instagram worthiness. What makes you happy? That is the only question you have to answer. Now everyones idea of beauty is different, and there is no right way to do this, but I would say the first step in this is to choose to be present. When you are present you are able to notice the deails you would might miss otherwise. Sometimes the thing that we are looking for is right in front of us, and so does it apply to this.
I think it could be as simple as the busy mom keeping a stash of her favorite snacks in the night stand by her bed so that at the end of the day she is able to breath and eat something she loves. A Husband keeping a dedicated space to still play with his Hot Wheels. A son or daughter who is taking care of aging parents deciding to take five extra minutes before bed to write down their thoughts to fill their cup to be able to pour out again, on the back porch and listen evening summer nights.
This book was given to me by a lovely friend. It breaks down seasons and how we bring simple joys in our day to day life.
I love to create, from building to cooking and I think that having the tools and supplies I need in order to do a project at arm reach is a great way to bring beauty in lives. For me, these moments are where I can get out of my head and focus on what is in front of me. A lot of times I love to make things for others and I think that truly helps me have a better mindset, less thoughts about myself and more intentional thoughts about others.
I keep my camera close to me at all times which makes for capturing and seeing moments in a different light. It is what photographers do, capture the story and beauty in an image. I love to have photography books on my bookshelf, along side my mounds of other books I have, in order to draw inspiration from other photographers. It is a way for me to open my eyes to possible compositions and learn my craft more through a tangible way , not just scrolling online, (plus the books are always gorgeous). Here are two of my favorites!
A beautiful, art filled books that look into the life of an artist and Provence lifestyle. It is full of recipes, photography sessions, still life, and deep, self portraiture by Jamie Beck.
This was the first photography book I ever bought and what I find to be the funny part is I never would have known how much it would affect how I view the beauty of weather.
I could write about this endlessly but sooner or later you will need go and live your life too so I am going to leave it here for the time being. I hope you are inspired to see your life as a gift, to create and find beauty, but also just soak in all that life has to give you. You're here for a reason, a purpose, and I believe you will make a difference in the people you meet along the way in the wonderful journey! Until next time, God bless and bye bye!
Listen to the podcast episode that goes along with this article:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2uok5sJrscfJcDRIUSG8oC?si=T546M5J9R0KetUxTytQ5oA
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/here-in-my-time/id1858774701
