Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

This has been an amazing summer for me. I have traveled quite independently and extensively to a number of places. It has been such a joy for me to realize that I can get in a rental car and ask Siri to give me directions somewhere and just take off – by myself. It was such a gift to me to feel strong and independent enough to do that again. I almost felt like I had wings. For the first couple of years of my dealing with paraneoplastic syndrome, I had to give up driving a car. I could barely move. I was either in hospitals, nursing facilities, or had 24/7 caregiving.

But times have changed for me, and I now live independently in a beautiful cottage at Penney Farms, FL (with a spare bedroom for houseguests – yes, please come on down and visit my beautiful home) and I drive everywhere independently. What a miraculous and enchanting joy for me.

One of the special spots I visited this summer was Quoque, Long Island, NY, where my dear friends Jane and Lou Gropp live. They have a wonderful outdoor shower at their beach house. And I had the pleasure of using it several times. It felt so refreshing and rejuvenating to get into that shower where the only roof was the blue sky and branches of trees.

It reminded me that when I had a weekend home in Hampton Bays LI (not far from the Gropp’s) that I had a fabulous outdoor shower. I had planted a honeysuckle vine beside the wooden structure surrounding the shower. Over the years the vines climbed all over it – both outside and inside. I remember being in the shower one day and moving some of the leaves and flowers of the honeysuckle and seeing the little ceramic plaque that I had forgotten I had hung there. On it were written the words “Find Beauty in All Things.” How special to discover that sign – a reminder that in the midst of problems, issues, life itself, we can find and experience beauty.

I started thinking about that – how valuable it is to look for beauty in all things which God has created. It’s so easy to see the ugly side of life and to find fault with people, things, even life itself. One of my friends reminded me that we often think of rare things as being beautiful. For example, we see a red cardinal as a stunning bird. But because a sparrow is an ordinary or common bird, we tend not to appreciate it or to think of it as beautiful.

Now as I think about my outdoor shower, I recall the “Find Beauty in All Things” plaque. But I also remember there was a small mirror right next to that sign. Whenever we look into a mirror, we should remind ourselves to look for our own deep, internal beauty. Yes, it’s there. After all, we have been created by God, the master artist.

• Have you looked into the mirror recently and seen your own deep internal beauty?
• Where do you see beauty in life – especially when times are tough?

Thank you, God, for being the great artist and for creating a world full of beauty – including ourselves. Teach us to be attentive observers and protectors of your amazingly beautiful world. And help us to look for beauty in all peoples and in ourselves. Amen.

Joy Carol

www.joycarol.com