“Think of all the beauty still around you and be happy.”
Anne Frank

A few weeks ago I read a review of Ross Gay’s book, The Book of Delights. The author had chosen to write a daily essay about something that had delighted him beginning on his birthday until his next natal day appeared on the calendar. I was intrigued and ordered it and I found it to be filled with short, delightful(sorry!) snapshots of ordinary events taking on extraordinary light. It caused me to wonder what I might pay attention to on a daily basis that would widen my lens on the world as well. And the first word that came to my mind was ‘beauty’. Focus on beauty. Look for beauty. Be on the hunt for experiences of beauty.  It seemed a noble effort so I bought a notebook to keep track of daily encounters with what, at least to my eye and experience, constituted beauty.

There were many reasons for beginning such a process not the least of which is, I believe, the very act of being intentionally focused on any particular thought brings more of that very thing into our lives. Of course, this goes both ways. When we focus on negatives it seems unpleasant experiences and people show up with greater regularity. At least, I have found that to be true. And when I choose to have a positive outlook more positive experiences, joyful encounters litter my day. With so much in our airwaves and in the world tending toward the mean-spirited and hurtful, it seemed a wise thing to try to balance it all with an honest pursuit of beauty.

John O’Donohue, a never-ending source of inspiration to so many, wrote in his book entitled Beauty: “Sometimes beauty is unpredictable; a threshold we had never noticed opens, mystery comes alive around us and we realize how the earth is full of concealed beauty.” Often concealed, yes, and in these emerging days of not-quite summer also in your face. At least that has been my experience as I have walked through neighborhoods and along rivers and lakes. There is a showiness of beauty that has, at times, had me feeling a little giddy! Irises are showing their shades of purple and yellow into the ever-increasing sunlight of June. They are such a regal flower and, in this northern climate after such a harsh winter, they have a way of saying,”See. I told you it would be okay.”

Not to be outdone, the peonies are hanging heavy along the sides of houses so recently surrounded by snowdrifts. Their brilliant pinks and luscious white petals beg the passerby to stop, smell and linger. And the bleeding hearts are just about to end their early run on the stage of springtime garden theaters. So much pink pulsing into the freshness of each new day can cause something like heart palpitations.

I am trying to make a dent in my summer reading so in addition to The Book of Delights, I am also reading Frances Mayes new book, See You in the Piazza. It is a page turning romp through tiny, Italian villages off the tourist path as she chronicles the joy of art, food, landscape, food, wine, colorful characters and more food. At one point her husband says:” Can we go back to the hotel? I’m getting Stendhal Syndrome big time.” 

Stendhal Syndrome? This had me heading for the Internet to find out what this could possibly mean only to learn that it is a ‘condition involving dizziness from experiencing too much beauty’. Well. I’ll have a little of that please. Don’t we all wish we could become a little dizzy with seeing beauty? It seems to me it could be one antidote to the breathless news cycle that can cause a more unpleasant form of dizziness.

I am not sure how my quest for beauty will unfold over the next months. Though I have continued to have moments of awareness at the beauty around me, I have already lagged in writing about the various sights, sounds, and smells of my everyday encounters. The good news is there is, I believe, an endless supply of beauty in the world and so the call to be open to it is never far away. O’Donohue explains that the Greek word for beautiful is kalon which is related to kalein, which includes the idea of ‘call’. “When we experience beauty, we feel called.”

Well, that is a call I can answer.