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Dorothy Day has been quoted as saying she believed that beauty will save us. I don't know if that is true or not. I do know that today I went to a Christmas tea with women in my aqua yoga class and other women who are in a morning water exercise class with the yoga and exercise instructor. The table was laden with many special cookies and candies, nuts and dehydrated apricots and my store bought iced miniature cupcakes. I had no desire to bake.
I entered a house that was absolutely beautiful. Every room in it was decorated with various collections like Hummel figurines, beautifully carved nutcrackers, candle snuffers, porcelain dolls. The living room featured a rotating Christmas tree that was heavy with shiny, red Santa Claus figures, ribbon candy ornaments, and so many other tastefully chosen and placed ornaments they are too numerous to mention. Beneath this particular tree was a riser hidden in a "snow skirt" and village cottages from various countries were lit and sparkled from their place.
Throughout every room on both the upper and lower level were table trees also tastefully decorated and painstakingly placed so that they could be seen and admired without being knocked over and broken. In the lower level family room was another large tree called the "Pooh" tree where stuffed animals were hung and non-breakable ornaments for the grandchildren to do what they would there.
I have been doing a little more grief work this week and missing my deceased Dad and my very sick son. I looked forward to going to this tea because it was a distraction for me and because I really like this instructor who is very opinionated, strong and also knowledgeable about what she teaches.
After an hour and a half of sitting in such beauty - some things I haven't even mentioned that I saw - and drinking it and the women there in - I left it in peace and in joy again. Maybe Dorothy is right? Maybe beauty can save us? I think what struck me as most beautiful was the fact that a human being had designed, carved, molded, painted or imagined this beauty and shared it with the world. I believe each person has within them the capacity to offer some gift of beauty from within themselves, too. I think I want to be saved by beauty and I want to seek it in every human being that I meet.
-- Edited by grateful2be on Friday 12th of December 2014 09:43:29 PM
-- Edited by grateful2be on Friday 12th of December 2014 09:49:29 PM
After an hour and a half of sitting in such beauty - some things I haven't even mentioned that I saw - and drinking it and the women there in - I left it in peace and in joy again. Maybe Dorothy is right? Maybe beauty can save us?
-- Edited by grateful2be on Friday 12th of December 2014 09:43:29 PM
Catherine I see an abundence of beauty in your heart.....now THAT kind of beauty CAN save us.....wish there were more like you around.....I think this community here on this board is beauty in that we jump in and support a mate in need or pain......There is nothing more beautiful then a loving, compassionate heart......I am working on me, doing some grief work, myself a bit this week and yea, some of my posts of late i have been letting it out as i am as sick as my secrets, b/c I want to be a beauty in my heart
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Live and let live and do it with peace and goodwill to all!!!!
You're a beauty in heart to me, sister. Your sense of humor, your love of nice things, your willingness to share yourself as you are, your continual work to be you in this world. That all adds up to a special kind of beauty to me.
You're a beauty in heart to me, sister. Your sense of humor, your love of nice things, your willingness to share yourself as you are, your continual work to be you in this world. That all adds up to a special kind of beauty to me.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((G))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) thank you sister!!!!!!
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Live and let live and do it with peace and goodwill to all!!!!
You inspire me. Starting tonight I'm praying to open up to ambient beauty.
It took me over a year to see the beauty in the desert, in mountains and in the environment I'm in now.
It takes me seeing it through someone else's eyes (one of the reasons I love having visitors).
Thank you for showing me such a view as yours today. Beauty indeed.
Paula, thank you. I needed that hug tonight. Now I'm enjoying peace, joy and affection.
Jill, since you brought up nature, I'll tell you a little more about where I was today. Their house is in a new subdivision in a wooded area where there are few homes. It has high and wide windows that allows one to look out from any part of the house into the woods. She is also a gardener, so there was a large garden (also decorated for Christmas) that one could see from several vantage points. She told us that deer from the woods will wander up to their home to the birdfeeders. If there is no birdseed in the feeders, the deer will come right up to the windows and look into the house as if to say: "Where is the seed?" The deer are not troubled by the humans in that house. Such trust those deer display towards her and her husband. I liked hearing that.
-- Edited by grateful2be on Friday 12th of December 2014 10:48:28 PM
Is dorothy day, calamity jane? I loved her when I was a child? Great post, beautiful. You have inspired me to put up my tree today and I think I will make it and the room look beautiful, give it some effort for a change. If its beautiful I might send you a picture. Your a wee beauty grateful.x
elcee: No, Dorothy Day is an American social activist who started the Catholic Worker house in the states for homeless and marginalized people during the Depression. Her story is quite interesting. I'm so glad to read you have decided to celebrate Christmas!
mw: Thank you for the affirmation and the beauty you have brought into the world yourself and still do in your soft and gentle way.
Hi Grateful. What a beautiful description and a beautiful distraction. I do believe being able to see the "beauty" in this season or anytime of the year, is truly a gift. Accepting the sicknesses in our families, whether it's alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer etc., and trying to move forward can be taxing and tiring. Lately, I have been tired. Yesterday, my ah and I went to see our almost 4 weeks old granddaughter. We stayed with her and told mom and dad to go out to lunch and do a little Christmas shopping.
While ah was holding sleeping Lily, she began to smile. The smile was so obvious. Instead of telling ah that it was only a "gas smile", I picked her my phone and took the picture. Later in the day when I was looking at the picture, I was looking Lily's smiling face, but I noticed something else. Granddaddy's cheeks were wet with tears.
Grateful, I did not realize how precious and beautiful this picture is until your post on "beauty.
Thanks for sharing.
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Look for the rainbow after the storm, and I'm sending you a double dose of HOPE. H-hold O-on P-pain E-ends
(((Cloudyskies, Grandpa and Lilly))) That is a beautiful picture for me to see, too.
The tree is in the Prague Christmas market. I loved the color and the village scene. No report on switches and cold water dousing at this market though. Just must be the Easter market tradition (as she rolls up her sleeves, gets out her bullhorn, and yells to the girls - Runnnnnnn!!!!! Let somebody else paint those eggs;" and to the boys - "Get those switches and that cold water out of your hands and drop those drinks - its all poison! Poison, do you hear me???!!!!"
I love Christmas decorations. When I was young, my dad used to drive us around the neighborhoods to look at the lights. There's a few homes near us that are really nice. Disneyland should help boost my mood and save me this week, I hope. I am looking for something to help me feel happier.
That was the tradition for my kids and me, too. It cost very little to drive us through neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. I still do it. There something about sparkling lights in a night sky that helps me look up and cheer up.
Last night, after leaving my appointment with my spiritual counselor, I was driving home during rush hour - lots of traffic - was stopped for awhile. It was raining and the car in front of me was a red car and kept braking - I noticed that the reflection of the red car with the brake lights in the rain was creating what appeared to be sparkly red rain right in front of me. I felt this was so meaningful, I took a picture of it and pasted in on Facebook as a reminder to me that my HP is lighting the path for me (literally) and to be on the lookout for beauty (and to create it in the home).
Thank you!
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"All we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
Edgar Allan Poe
Row, Row, Row your boat, gently down the stream.
Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Life is but a Dream.
I have been finding that nature has been sending me some beautiful messages these past few weeks in the form of natural appearances out of nowhere of unusual birds sitting close by and a small buck walked by our porch while I was sitting having my evening coffee. Makes me sit back and look at the significance and the wonder of creation. Also, reminds me that I am not the center of the universe and that I have so much more to learn and experience. Also, reminds me of the power of HP and his presence.
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"Forgiveness doesn't excuse bad behavior, but it
does prevent bad behavior from destroying your heart". ~ unknown
