Beauty is…
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I would have to add that it is also in the ear of the beholder. Going to sleep at night to the sound of rain falling by my window as my head rests peacefully against my pillow is a comforting sound. It focuses my mind and pictures appear before me of forests and lakes with rain falling as the sun goes down. The sounds create a calmness within me that says, we are at peace and all is well. My eyes may be closing slowly but the images remain as sleep pervades my being and I dream.
Those sounds change in the morning as the Carolina wrens, bluejays, and cardinals announce that it is wake-up time. Though their songs lack a melodious quality, their message is clear. We are not here to relax and comfort you, we are here to see that you do not waste the day away in slumber. Get up, rejoice, make something of yourself, for today is the day…! Of course, we won’t find out what today is the day for until we accede to their demands.
From there it is the sounds of life that both comfort and define us. Are we the slow-growing grasses that take in all the rain and sun and just sway with whatever the wind provides us? Are we the thousands of grackles that just keep scavenging for food in our yards or soar through the air in waves with clamorous squawks announcing to the world that we go where we want, and take what we can and are proud of it, whether it is right to do, or not? Or are we the builders and shakers of the world; the trees that hold and protect the nests, and provide the fruit that nourishes us and keeps us alive and well?
All of this is the beauty the eyes behold. They are the sounds the ears hear. They are the breaths we take. They are the thoughts that make us become what we are capable of being.
As I write this I find it comforting to hear right now the rain falling outside my window, which is also the peaceful and comforting sounds that guided my muse.
