A post for Kathleen

My soul sister in Minnesota, Kathleen, recently asked me a question that stopped me for awhile. She asked, child-like, for me to fill in the blank to this statement: "Have you ever seen anything more beautiful than _____?"

What is beauty? It's personal, unique, relative to the person and their experiences. The best way for me to describe beauty is often to think of synonyms for it.

Beauty is often synonymous with silence, for me - quiet places I carry in my heart and go to in times of trouble. Like this.


Is there anything more beautiful than floating inches above the water at sunset in my kayak?

And this:



I can't think of much more beautiful than seeing the faces of each of my children moments after they each took their first breath.

Beauty is love. Unconditional love. It is seeing my dad smile on his 70th birthday.



Beauty is participating in this miraculous life.




And drinking it in.



It is watching trumpeter swans return to a lake in Ohio in March to court each other at sunset...



Beauty is forgiveness. And grace. And learning "what peace there may be in silence."



May you carry your unique beauty inside you to light the world.