“Beauty elevates and brings joy, thus, it honors and values others.  The person who finds Beauty and shares it with others bequeaths grace and enriches the lives of those touched.”

Beauty is loveliness, attractiveness, and that which excites admiration and pleasure. It can delight either the eye or the aesthetic, intellectual, or moral senses. There is pain in this world, and ugliness, but there is Beauty also, and we can make a conscious decision about which to concentrate on, live with, and immerse ourselves in. Focusing on Beauty is a decision, a strategic choice we make on what to live for and toward.

Beauty begins with allowing our eyes to look beyond ourselves. Instead of peering inward, we focus outward. We move our vision to the distance, and the sunset causes us to draw in our breath sharply. We see the stars in their silent, twinkling dance through the sky, and it stirs a deep joy. We take the time to discern and enjoy flavor and fragrance in a cup of tea. We cast our vision beyond ourselves; we perceive, we partake, and we are pleased. Who looks at the northern lights and then turns inward and says, “Wow, I am awesome”?

Beauty seen invites response. So we participate in Beauty and share each delight with those around us. We cannot restrain our mirth when we hear a liquid belly-laugh spilling from a child. We tap our feet to the rhythm of the music that moves us; we want to grab someone and whirl with them to its beat. We should not repress this desire to participate, but rather seek to enrich those around us with the wealth we have enjoyed.

It is our hearts that love Beauty enough to look for it and to share it. It is our hearts that create Beauty for the sake of honoring and elevating others, so that they might perceive, partake, and be pleased. A simple meal arranged with garnish on the plate. The silky ribbon on a gift. Fine porcelain for the tea party in the garden.

This is participation in Beauty, not to draw attention to ourselves or our belongings but to radiate and spread loveliness, to lift our minds and hearts beyond ourselves to something larger and grander. We shed Beauty as a fragrance, simply because it is beautiful and good and we have had the privilege to partake. The path to true Beauty always leads us into a spacious and open place, to selfless extravagance, to largesse in living.

Shall we pursue great things together?

Yours for the return of Grace, Civility, Beauty, Gentility, and Excellence,

Mary Alice

“So beauty, armed with virtue, bows the soul

With a commanding, but a sweet control.”