Beauty is all around us. It would be easy to forget that watching the ugly and disrespectful protests that have been taking place in Canada over the last week or so. That’s why it felt right to make beauty the Simple Living Sunday theme for this week. Because we are surrounded by beautiful things if we only take the time to look for them.
I am not going to give the extremist minority any more airtime than necessary. If you’re not familiar with the protest, just search “Freedom Convoy” to see the details. Then, you might want to think about the hardships our grandparents endured during wartime for a little perspective on the current “hardships” these people are protesting against.
As I watched the news reports and decided to make beautiful things the theme for this week, I came across this quote that sums up my current feelings very nicely.
Think of all the beauty still left around you, and be happy.
Anne Frank
Three simple pleasures and highlights
I have to admit, it hasn’t been the best week. I’m having a hard time staying motivated right now. It could be just the winter blahs, the negativity all around us, or maybe I just need to go back and re-read my week one post on motivation.
All that aside, I’m not ready to abandon my practice of celebrating the simple (and beautiful) things in life, even if I did have less to write in my journal this week. Here are three simple pleasures and highlights of the past week.
- My daughter got a job offer for a co-op position this summer. I’m so proud of her for getting the first job she interviewed for.
- I’m grateful to have a job with flexible hours so I can drive Colleen to college when the weather is bad—like it has been this week.
- The winter Olympics are underway! I love the Olympic games but, as a Canadian, the winter Olympics always give me reason to celebrate. I’m looking forward to two weeks of watching hockey, curling, skating, skiing and whatever else is on offer.
This week’s simple living focus: Beautiful things
Sometimes, we have to shut out all the negativity around us and focus on the positive, so let’s do that this week.
When we hear the word beautiful, many people immediately think of how they look, or at least how they wish they look. The quest for beauty is big business, with the beauty industry generating around $500 million in revenue worldwide every year. There are a lot of people trying to live up to external standards of beauty.
But the beauty of an individual’s physical appearance is shallow and fleeting, so let’s put it aside and appreciate all the other beautiful things around us. Where will you find beauty this week? Maybe it will be…
- a colourful sunrise or sunset
- an icicle hanging from your eavestrough
- a simple nature scene
- your favourite music or artwork
- the kindness of a stranger
- an act of charity
- the smiling eyes of a stranger peering out from behind a mask
- something else that’s beautiful to you
The point is life is full of beautiful things. We just need to choose to look for them.
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Three things to do this week
Here are three things we can all do this week to celebrate the beauty around us.
Purposefully seek out beautiful things
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
Confucius
It’s so easy to ignore what’s right there in front of us. This week, set aside time every day to purposefully seek out things that are beautiful. It can be as simple as going outside for a walk and soaking up the simple joy that nature delivers. Or, make a lunch or coffee date with a friend. You could even do a random act of kindness and take heart in the smile of a stranger.
And when you see something beautiful, share it. Post a photo on Instagram, or just tell someone about it.
Be generous with compliments
Life is beautiful not because of the things we see or do. Life is beautiful because of the people we meet.
Simon Sinek
There’s no easier way to make someone feel good than a sincere compliment. There’s even scientific evidence that receiving a compliment actually lights up the same parts of your brain that get activated when you get paid a monetary award.
This week, make a point of looking for things to compliment. If you see someone wearing a nice shirt, tell them how much you like it. Thank a co-worker for a job well done, or just for showing up consistently.
Limit news consumption
It’s good to stay informed on what’s going on in the world, but sometimes it’s all a bit much. One of the downsides of the pandemic is news overload—and most of the news isn’t good. My husband can literally watch news 24 hours a day. I’ve had enough after about 20 minutes.
If you’ve fallen into the habit of watching too much news, take steps to limit your news intake. Unfollow some news feeds, set a time limit on your consumption, and shut off notifications on your devices. Use the time instead to listen to music, enjoy some photography, read inspirational words, or just go outside for some fresh air.
I wish you all a beautiful week! It’s out there—even if we have to look hard to find it.
How do you make a point of celebrating the beauty around you? Tell me your thoughts below.
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You make so many valid points, Michelle! I’ve always believed that beauty is al around us but not everyone sees its existence. This is how I try to stay positive in a mostly-negative world… it’s all what you choose to focus on.. those who focus on negative is only going to see it reflected back in their life and vise versa… I also try to limit the news consumption too… too much can get me spiraling (especially at night)! I know I am late to catching up on my blog readings but I hope you had a beautiful week 😊
I totally agree that we have a choice to make on what we focus on. It’s hard to shut it out sometimes, though. And it seems to be getting worse. I just tell myself “This too shall pass.” I wish you a wonderful week ahead!
This post was such a good reminder to me this week. Life’s been feeling really challenging lately, so it’s always nice to hear about good things and be reminded to look for them. I’ve refused to listen to any news about this whole convoy situation. I am at burnout with news lately, so that’s one thing I’m doing. Some evenings (my mornings) I get to see the sky lit up with the sunset and that’s always beautiful and something I love to take time to see. 🙂
It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the negativity. Limiting news is one of the best things to do. And, there’s nothing like a beautiful sunset or sunrise to warm the heart! Thanks for reading.
I love this post, Michelle! It is so important to find the beauty that is literally all around us. The world seems to be in the twilight zone (the right-wing ‘protestors’ included) so it sure does help to focus on the positive! Your three highlights from the past week are perfect examples of positivity!
Here are three beautiful lights: you, your blog and this post!!! Thank YOU!
Thanks Cher. It has been hard to stay positive over the last few days. I’m excited to have the Olympics to watch as a diversion from all the stuff going on.
You post is JUST what I needed to read after skimming the news (including Canada’s ongoing and disrespectful anti-vax trucker demonstration) this morning. Thank you for this wise reminder — echoed in the comments above — about how we can make choices to limit our intake of the (mostly horrible, “if it bleeds, it leads”) news our media tends to offer us AND can focus instead on the beauty all around us. And if you are curious and willing to email me (will@willsings.com), I will send you the rough mix of a song I wrote many years ago which I recently recorded with two musical friends called “The Beauty All Around.” I’ll probably share it in a blog post eventually (once we have agreed upon the final mix), and I will remember to link to YOUR uplifting blog post about this topic.
Thanks Will. I have to admit the protests over the last week and a half have really worn me down. If it was just the truckers, I could live with it. But the convoy has attracted every extreme right wing individual in the country who’s angry with anything the government has ever done and it has turned into something ugly and violent. I fear for the physical safety of government members and business leaders who have spoken out against the protest.
Thanks for offering to send me the rough mix of your song. I would love to hear it. I will email you shortly. In the meantime, it’s a beautiful sunny day here today so I will enjoy that!
I loved this and you are so right. Beauty is always there but it is us that we can’t always see it.
I have to admit that at some point I got addicted to news and it was really bad for my mental health. It is impressive how much more time is gived to bad news rather than good news. It is easy to get affected and believe that life itself is bad which is not right. Life is what we focus on. Thank you for giving me inspiration today!🙂
Thanks Eri! I was the same early in the pandemic. I was following all the news, and looking at all the stats. It was horrible. I finally had to stop and it made me feel so much better.
Lovely list of beautiful “things”.
Thanks Monty!