I CLEARED THE orange and yellow calendula out of my window boxes when I got up this morning because their time had come to an end. I popped a few last blooms into little glasses that stand about 4 inches high. Tufts of small orange and yellow flower heads scattered about the flat. Then I settled down to see the beauty before beginning this gift of a day.
Of course not everything runs smoothly on this piece of the planet where I spend my days, but that doesn’t mean that beauty isn’t, all around.
Seeing the beauty
Sun on the wall and across the sofa cushions. Coffee table patterned with sunlight and shade. Absolute silence as the morning begins. A dishevelled sitting room in need of a tidy but, beauty, is all around.
I’m watching the tree out front in the mirror as I look around the room taking in every beautiful thing. A card someone sent to me with gold lettering shining in the sun. The ironing board waiting for me to pay it some attention but not demanding anything. My boat swathed in golden sun rays warms my mind. The peace within this freshly painted early morning scene, reminds me of all the good things happening today that you don’t see on the news. I will fill my mind with them, with all the little simple things of an ordinary life.
The human mind can be like the media, busy with all the stuff that’s going wrong, dramas filling the senses and orchestrating feelings and thoughts that take over the management of our lives. Before we know it minds become trigger happy. It can be such a fine line.
And so, I am savouring this lovely early, sunshiny morning. I’m painting the networks of my mind with gold, to take out with me into the day. Drinking in every little morsel of this, beautiful, world.
The moving play of sun and shadow that paints this room, as the breeze sends gentle movement through the tree out front, reflected in the mirror and dancing across the walls, are gifts of life to me. I begin my day with them and I know, it’s going to be a very good day, no matter what feelings I carry from my own life, or the lives of people around me. My mind is my own, and for that, I am truly grateful.
I wonder what you’re loving today, what beauty you see, perhaps you’ll tell me in the comments.
Tonight dreams will be dreamt, fires might be made, food will be eaten. The day will paint itself into evening and then into night with skies where stars play hide and seek. Tomorrow it will begin again with early morning sunshine, or grey clouds smudging the corner of the planet where I will be, welcoming whatever beautiful ordinary thing I can see.
And when tonight comes, in my imagination I will be in far away places, as the curtain of nighttime brings a blanket to the street I live in, and lights to the windows that speckle the view above the pavement, where people will unfurl themselves from their days into their nights, while I dream of orange trees, seaside towns lit up under night sky’s on mountain tops, blue skies with green, and great big sweet, juicy homegrown apples.
Till Friday, warmest wishes,
Lucy x
I love this. Thank you Lucy. How rare it is to celebrate the simple & magnificent beauty of the turning of the day — from day into night & night into day. I am especially aware of the beauty all around at the moment. I don’t know if it’s because of summer, or because I’m engaging with strangers much more than usual at the mo through renovating my house (whereas I’m normally quite isolated), or maybe because I’m not following the news so much lately...but I am suddenly discovering how NICE people are! 😍 Stranger after stranger I encounter & they are all so lovely – from shopkeepers, to people on Facebook Marketplace, to new neighbours, plasterers, etc! Everyone with their own amazing story, of which I get to peek only a morsel into. If this is just a sneak peek, my mind can’t comprehend all of the goodness, kindness & love that is in the world! You’d never know it from watching the news... But real life is telling me a different story. 💛