“The world will always be beautiful to those who look for beauty.”
—from The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl
What’s beautiful?
A morning walk: It rained most of yesterday. Today’s early morning walk was earthy and humid. All the growing things looked satiated, dewy, and refreshed - lush foliage in a palette of greens and delicate flowers in a rainbow of hues. The birds, who sheltered most of yesterday, chattered wildly. An indigo bunting let us come close before flying away.
A good story: Stories enhance our lives, whether catching up with a friend, watching an illuminating film, or reading a good book. I’m currently reading The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl and finding so much to savor in its pages.
Snail mail: I have friends who send me “snail mail” regularly. They’ve inspired me to do the same. In our world of instant texts, endless urgency, and overabundant e-mails, there’s something so satisfying about receiving and sending physical mail.
Rest: No explanation needed. It may be an overused phrase, and yet it’s a good reminder - we’re human beings, not human doings.
Community, mutuality, and help: At work, I’m currently involved in a project that requires teamwork to deliver a summer reading program to children in our community. From funders to organizers to teachers to food service employees to student workers and more, it takes all of us to make it work. Also this week, we attended the opening of a new mountain bike trail in our county. Friends of ours spearheaded this effort, organizing volunteers to make it happen. It’s amazing to see things come together and the community of support around such efforts. Also, I’ve been personally working on being more comfortable in asking for help. Societal messages may broadcast that asking for help is a weakness. We feel so good when we help others! Why do we forget that others also feel good helping us?
***
There are so many things we could focus on. Much is vying for our attention. Among the tragedies and challenges in our world, it’s also important to focus on the beauty. On all the ways that human beings are beautiful *outside* of physical appearances and productivity and celebrity and wealth. Let’s focus on the things people are doing in this world to help, to build community, to make their circles kinder and stronger.
Today, I’m focusing on the indigo bunting and the wildflowers. On people who send thoughtful messages and organize important efforts in their communities. On teamwork and helping hands.
Speaking of helping hands, I’m asking for a bit of help today…
I’d love to reach a wider audience. If you’re active on Substack or social media, please consider a “restack” or a “share.” It doesn’t have to be this post. It can be a previous post that resonated with you or the general link to “In Between” - which is: marykrawczyk.substack.com
Or, if you don’t post or interact on these platforms, please consider forwarding this email (or the link to a different post) to a friend who might be interested.
And, if none of those actions feel comfortable - it’s all good too. I appreciate your readership regardless!
As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
What’s beautiful to you these days?
With gratitude and care,
Mary
A video of our indigo bunting friend:
For Milwaukee area folks, here are links to a couple of the events/projects I mentioned in this post.
New mountain bike trails in Kletsch Park: https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/mountain-bikers-can-take-on-a-new-challenge-with-trails-opening-at-kletzsch-park
Tragil Wade-Johnson Summer Reading Program: https://www.marquette.edu/education/centers-and-clinics-research/tragil-wade-johnson-summer-reading-program.php