When Beauty Rises
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Hello friends, When was the last time you paused because something was so beautiful, you needed a moment? When was the last time you were emotionally moved by nature, a painting, a song, a film, a dance? And how often do you make space to welcome beauty in your life? “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” wrote Margaret Wolfe Hungerford. She was speaking of subjectivity. That each of us finds different things—objects, people, places—beautiful. But there’s more to it than simple taste or attraction. The key is in her word, “beholder.” That’s us. In order to see, hear, taste, smell, or touch beauty, we must be open to behold it. Beauty requires our presence in order to emerge. When beauty rises in front of us, and we are there to witness it, we witness and share in life itself. A life spent half present is not a life fully lived. The less present we are, the more tenuous our connection to the stuff of life becomes. Beauty brings us back toward presence, whether in joy or pain. I hope you make time this week to drink that in. And breathe. Best wishes — Thorn
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T. Thorn Coyle
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