Kindness

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” ~ Aesop

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Several years ago I was on a writing site and a young woman asked me to participate in an Operation Beautiful campaign. I of course needed to know more, so I did my research. The idea was founded by a woman named Caitlin who is the owner of the site http://www.operationbeautiful.com/ She firmly believes that we all need to accept our own kind of beautiful.

After looking up the site I agreed to help the young woman in her campaign. It wasn’t much but as Aesop said, no act of kindness is wasted. All we did was visit other members on the writing site and tell them they were beautiful. Based on my experience of such kind words being thrown my way, I am confident the little messages brought smiles.

So what will you do today to help another?

Use the comment box to tell me things you have done, or things you intend to do soon.

 

To What End?

stripped ~ exposed ~ uncovered

~ a flower embraces the sun’s full light ~

mocked ~ betrayed ~ devastated

~ the heat of the day scorches ~

seeds scatter

The idea here is that pain allows for new growth. We need to learn to enjoy that moment when we bloom, and know that it can never last. And yet  the cycle will continue, bad things in life will happen, but beauty will come of it. Revel in the  light and rejoice in the the good that can be found. New seeds will fall after the scorching trials that life throws our way. Reminds me of the song Scatter Sunshine.

Beauty is Fleeting

 

The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express. ~ Francis Bacon

Beauty is not static, what is beautiful today may not be beautiful to me tomorrow. Yet, certain memories stand out as having been stunning displays of perfection and awe-inspiring moments of beauty.

I have enjoyed sunrises, albeit very few, as I am not a morning person. I will share in another post a moment relating to a misty morning in which a group of horses surprised me with suddenness as they galloped up the beach to disappear once more into the mist, probably the most beautiful event I have ever witnessed. But today I will describe a brief moment of beauty which  came to mind as I pondered on the beautiful things I have seen in life.

It was so fleeting as to have hardly been noticed. I was seventeen and watching a young adult co-ed softball game. I cannot even recall names as it happened thirty years ago, but the fiance of a girl was up. He swung and hit with that classic crack that sent the ball flying. That was not the beauty, no the beauty was the grace with which he ran…I have never seen such grace and form in my life. He was a college level athlete, but now I cannot even recall what sport.

His legs stretched out, but not excessively long as one might see in racing, he was simply swift.  The way his hands were held captured me, so casual and open not clenched as in extreme effort and his feet were so sure, precise. Truly the only words I can think of is graceful. Honestly I sighed at the sight, and felt a pang of jealousy for the blonde gal who had captured his attention.

So it may not be the most beautiful sight, but it is one I have treasured in my heart with gratitude for having seen it. Truly less than a minute as he ran from base to base, but an inspiration to last a lifetime to be sure.