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One Beautiful Week in Review

Thunderheads in East
Last Friday, I decided I needed to focus on the positive and improve my attitude. With that in mind, I resolved to pay attention to the beautiful things around me every day for a week, and post One Beautiful Thing everyday on twitter, under the hashtag #1BeautifulThing.

 Conclusion: I'm constantly surrounded by beautiful things. These are the pictures I posted, but there were many more moments of beauty every day, especially the contributions from Bethany House on Twitter. She elevates doodling to fine art. 

 When I started paying attention, I began to see beauty everywhere. I snapped pictures of a dozen beautiful things, and there were dozens more I'd have liked to captured in a photo, but I couldn't.
Home-grown Tomatoes
There was  the hawk perched in a dead tree
The cowdog riding shotgun in an ancient jeep
Mule deer, two doe and two fawns, bounding across the road
Gambel quail rustling through the brush and calling at dusk
The lizard sunning on deck
Kid's faces as they talked about dressing up for Halloween
The smell of pine and junipers after a rain
The drama of an afternoon thunderstorm (although I tried to catch a little)
 A Stellar jay stealing a pine nut off the patio table, and many, many more.

Last Wild Asters of the year
So was the experiment successful? I'd say yes. I feel more energetic now, happier. I realize how privileged I am to live my life. I need to focus that energy into my next project, and I think this week of gratitude will pay off with better productivity. And now and then, I'll continue to post #1BeautifulThing, just to remind myself how lucky I am. 
Child's Kaleidoscope
   Would you like to join me?
Driving by Pampas Grass
Great Grandma's Carnival Glass Bowl

Pumpkin Ripening
Moonrise over Canyon Rim


Love a Good Thunderstorm
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Comments

  1. Diana WilderOctober 29, 2015 at 6:34 PM

    ...The waxing moon emerging from a net of mist at the height of nighttime... Watching the western sky, just up the hill with me, blush with the reflected sunrise... the unexpected sound of a stream beyond a curtain of bushes,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beth CarpenterOctober 29, 2015 at 6:38 PM

      Oh, you gave me the shivers picturing that moon. And I love the sound of water.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousOctober 30, 2015 at 12:31 PM

    I have enjoyed finding beauty all around me as well!! It's amazing how much you can find once you open your eyes to look for it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beth CarpenterOctober 30, 2015 at 12:36 PM

    It is amazing. That tapestry you stitched and posted on twitter is just gorgeous. You're a talented lady.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 30, 2015 at 12:40 PM

      Thank you :) That was my first major stitching project, and it took a lot of people's encouragement to keep me going. I'm so glad I had all those people cheering me on... it's because of them that I can feel accomplished and proud of the effort.

      Delete
    2. Beth CarpenterOctober 30, 2015 at 12:43 PM

      Your first major project? Wow. I'm so impressed. It's been decades since I did any embroidery, and never something so elaborate. It will be a family heirloom.

      Delete
    3. AnonymousOctober 30, 2015 at 12:50 PM

      Yes! My next step is to the framers... I already have a wall space picked out for it to hang.

      Delete

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