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"Beauty will save the world."
– Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Indeed, beauty is a powerful thing. It stirs us. Calls something out in us. Something deep and true that breaks through the fog of everyday living. It has been said that beauty has the power to
elevate even the most mundane things.
Recently, my husband and I got a taste of that truism. We live in a mid-sized college town and were downtown for a breakfast date. It was early and the usually bustling streets were quiet save the men out watering the lamppost hanging baskets and a few groggy students coming to study at the local coffee shop. So, in the stillness of those early hours, we decided to take a walk through town.
When we saw the first vase, we both stopped to comment, noting that it was a thoughtful thing for someone to do. I mean, who takes the time to leave fresh flowers next to a corner bench?
But, as we rounded the corner we saw more… sweet paper-wrapped bundles of flowers that had been intentionally left in shop doorways or near benches.
There were bundles and vases every few yards. Many of them had encouraging handwritten notes attached. And, it went on for blocks. It became like a treasure hunt for us as we looked for them all along the downtown streets.
At one point, a smiling shop owner came out to retrieve a vase full of flowers from
her stoop. I asked her about it and she said she’d never seen anything like it. What started as a routine for her to come in and open the store, had become an inspiration. Overcome by the gesture, she couldn’t wipe the grin away.
Beauty. Invading the mundane.
I realize that some of you might be thinking, “So what?” After all it’s just a few bouquets of flowers left along
the sidewalk. That money probably could have been spent on something more practical. Like buying canned goods for the local food pantry.
True. And, yet, beauty has its own value. Because it points us to something beyond our basic daily needs. To something deeper. In her book Captivating, Staci Eldredge says that beauty has purpose. “Beauty beckons us,” Eldredge writes. “Beauty invites us. Come, explore, immerse yourself.”
It’s the reason that we put color on our walls or create a feast when a frozen pizza would do. The reason we stop to enjoy a dandelion that has, against all odds, grown up in between the cracks of asphalt in the parking lot.
Those flowers left along Main Street act as pointers. Pointers to a place deep in our souls that resonates with the idea that life is about more than finishing our task list or making more money. That there is more. In the end, that beauty does save the world.
So, dear one, let me ask you: How are you doing at recognizing the pointers? Are you taking the time to see beauty? And what about leaving pointers as you go about life? How are you leaving beauty imprints on the world around you?
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A Column
by Shannon S. McKee
Leaving a Legacy
RHG Magazine & TV Guide TM - Fall/Winter 2017 © All rights reserved.
Finding Beauty in Unusual Places