Jenny Sullivan

This morning the sunshine streamed down as I ventured outside. Lingering sleep clung to my mind and slowed my steps. But as my pace grew quicker, I emerged from my reverie and instead became a part of my surroundings. I was absorbed into them in some strange way and thought became unnecessary. Rather than thinking, I could feel: feel the mild, gentle air; feel the vibrant light that danced around me; feel the brightness of the world in which I wandered. This beauty is beyond thoughts, beyond words, in a way that transcends the earthly realm and extends unto its Origin.

I am thankful that I can feel this joy that reaches out to me. Because some days I do not. My feelings become bottled inside, separating me from all except my own petty problems. I am inclined to close myself off, to exist within this whirlpool of my thoughts. But there is so much more that can be mine: beauty and wonder far greater than the limits of my humble self.

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Some things seem to exist outside of time.

There are certain moments that soar over the surface of things and clear the air of clouds of fear and worry. In these suspended seconds, there isn’t anything at all but what is here and now, and somehow that is sufficient. But this is not always the case. At times our minds flee and flit from place to place. They attempt to set the course ahead or justify the past. The moment is not enough, or perhaps it is and we are just not very good at staying.

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It is easier to see beauty on beautiful days.

This claim is hardly revolutionary. When the sky is blue and the sun beats down and the air is mild and clear, beauty leaps to the forefront of our vision, demanding to be seen and appreciated. We marvel at the wonder and feel joy for things we had not noticed before. But on dreary days of rain and sleet and slush, on days when it is dark and no light penetrates the wall of clouds, beauty may seem to be hidden.

I’m not only referring to nature here. These beautiful blue sky days are also those when life unfolds the way we want it to, when our minds are our untroubled and our circumstances friendly. It is easier to see beauty when we feel beauty, when it crosses our paths and graces our goings-on.

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Today has been a busy day, so my post will be especially brief.

Passion is beautiful. There is beauty in passion and passion in beauty. I have felt the stirring of passion within my own soul, and I have seen it in others: in the gleam in their eyes, in the light that refuses to be put out, in the words that speak their truths with courage, courage which by its nature excludes hatred and fear (since one stems from the other).

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There’s something beautiful about having a name.

My encounters with names today have been nothing out of the ordinary. But as I think about names– things that are so essential that we rarely pause to give them reflection- I realize that there is so much beauty in the fact that we all have one.

Names are very meaningful to me. It is different when someone uses your name when addressing you than when they do not. It is personal. More intimate somehow. It feels like they know you, like they see you. Perhaps it is the reminder that you are you, that your name belongs to and represents your person, the uniqueness that is yours alone.

One difficulty that I think will present itself during this Daily Beauty Challenge is the actual selection of “beauty.” In each day, in each moment, there is so much that is beautiful (and much of it eludes us). However, many of these beauties are of such a nature that I might not be able to express them in words, at least not adequately so. But I think that these fleeting beauties, the whispers of the soul that flit through us before we have a chance to examine them closely, are no less beautiful for their short duration. Every beautiful thing changes us in some small way for the better. Beautiful thoughts and beautiful words never truly disappear, even if we can no longer see them before us.

With this in mind, I want to talk about music, because the beauty it contains so often transcends words. As I walked to class today, listening to music, I was reminded of the power a melody can have, not only to lift our spirits, but also to raise us above the earthliness of our realities and into the midst of some higher, inexpressible beauty.

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Today is a very cold day.

From my window, I can see the wind sweep across the road, blurring the air in great white gusts of winter flurries. I wake up early for my class, don all my warm apparel and then venture out into the open. At first I walk only with destination in mind. I am walking from one point to another. I am walking because I need to get somewhere else. But it is bright outside and I blink several times. It occurs to me that this morning walk can be more than a means to an end if I refocus my vision. Perhaps it can be an end in itself.

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