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It's days like this I wish I was an artist. I am blessed to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world—New Zealand. You don't have to go very far around here before you are presented with a jaw-dropping view. Even in the city!
I am doubly blessed because I live just a stones throw from the beach, and out my window, every day I see water, sail boats, islands, and blue sky that stretches for miles.
So why am I telling you this?
Well, today is something really special. The scene is the same, but for some reason the light is perfect, the colours are vivid, the islands look like I could touch them, and it is peaceful.
Everything is still; even the cars passing in the street seem to be running on quiet juice. If I could paint it, I would. I can't, so I will do the next best thing and photograph it.
Today I feel strength from the beauty before me. I give thanks to a God who is an artist, in physical things as well as spiritual things.
It makes me think of the words of Elder Uchtdorf, when he spoke to the women of the church in October 2011,
…don't close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day's ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life—discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments.
We may not be able to have everything we want, when we want it, and how we want it, but we can be reminded of those things that the Lord has given us each day by reflecting on the beauties around us.
My view of today, which is really no different to yesterday, is enhanced because I have sought it by opening my eyes and heart to the simple and elegant beauties around me.
Our Saviour taught this simple truth when he said,
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.
For Elder Uchtdorf it took a tiny, insignificant flower to remind him of the simple and elegant beauties around him.
For me it was recognising the extra colour and vibrancy in a scene that I experience every day.
What is it that helps you discover these beauties in your day?
Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
I used to know a woman who had significant difficulties in her life, mostly due to her own persistently poor choices. But she had such an eye for beauty. She could find beauty in everything and everyone, and she was always trying to make things more beautiful–a touch of color here, a piece of fabric there–and she was really good at it. For me, finding beauty is difficult, but it was easier when I was with her. What a great blessing to be able to bring others to see beauty that they could not previously see on their own.
I may live in the Mojave Desert But to me it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever lived. We have glorious sunsets. At night you can see the stars in the sky. In the spring, if the weather has been cooperative, we have fields of golden poppies with many other wildflowers. We only get about 7 inches of rain a year, but when it rains it pours. We are famous for our winds. They seem to be present most of the year. Some of the trees lean because of the wind. The desert gets very hot in the summer (my least favorite time of the year) with temperstures up to 110 degrees. But because it is a desert the climate is usually very dry. We are able to use swamp coolers which are much cheaper then air conditioning. There are mountains all around us that have snow in the winter. Like President Uctdorf says to find beauty it is always present here. I believe that there is beauty anywhere you live, you just have to look.
Tracy, I think it was Paul, in Corinthians, who spoke about the ‘diversities of gifts’ that we each can be given. I truly believe that there are some individuals in this life who have that special gift of discerning all things beautiful in this world, regardless of what they are experiencing at the time. I would say your friend probably has that gift. But Paul also states that these gifts are given through the spirit. Which says to me that we all have access to them, if we are worthy to receive the spirit. For many of us it just takes a bit more effort.
Linda, some of the most beautiful photographic images I have seen are of the dessert. In fact I was looking at a photo of a sunset over the Mojave Dessert the other day. It was taken in the Valley of Fire, and you couldn’t tell where the sunset finished and the red rock started. It was amazing! But, like you, I believe that no matter where you are in the world you can find beauty. It just takes spiritual eyes to find it. Thank you for visiting and commenting today.
Thank you for this. Contrary to Maslow’s belief in the Heirarchy of Needs, I sometimes think the need for beauty transcends our physical needs. I think beauty, especially the beauty of nature is a type of spiritual language.
Lovely post, Tracy.
It may sound strange, but I remember *the day* when I suddenly became very aware of the beauty of the earth around me. Obviously, I’d noticed pretty flowers before. I’d noticed beautiful gardens, sunsets, scenic vistas, etc. But when I think about the catalyst of my sincere gratitude for the earth’s beauty and my inclination to always notice it around me, even when others don’t, I always think back to very specific bus ride to high school when Richard Cox, who was a budding photographer kept pointing out the window at different things he’d like to photograph. He also showed me several close up pictures he’d taken of trees, flowers, etc. It must have been his “keen eye” as a photographer, but he was able to point out things to me that day, that we passed EVERY SINGLE MORNING on the way to school, that I had never noticed previously. I remember being stunned at my own lack of observance. I can honestly say that something changed in me that day, because I KNOW that was *the* day I suddenly began to notice the beauty all around me. At the time, my family was living in Germany. We spent quite a bit of time touring castle ruins, walking on mountain trails, etc. And I guess up to that point, I’d only really noticed incredible beauty when we were going someplace for the very purpose of “going to see something/some place really beautiful” or if someone pointed it out to me. I guess something just clicked that day on the bus– and I’m grateful that it did.
There has been many a time in my life when a simple thing of beauty has pulled me out of a rut, or a dark place. I give thanks every day for those simple things.
Tracy K, I love that simple little memory you have been able to hold on to over the years. I have had similar moments like that where they have brought clarity.