Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

Dried cactus collected on my youngest daughter's walk the other day.

‎"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." - Goethe

In my attempt to get my health back the way it should be and beat these health issues I'm having, I'm trying to not just focus on food. Healthier eating is a large part of it, but perhaps even larger is my outlook on life and how I deal with stress. I'm a Type A personality and a cynic of the highest order. (I prefer the term "realist.") My days as a newspaper reporter did nothing to help that. While I will no doubt always continue to be this way in my thinking, I don't have to let it affect the way I live my life.

I want to see beauty where it is, and even where it isn't. I want to enjoy life, and find many things to be thankful for even on bad days. I want to stop. And smell the roses. And take big, deep cleansing breaths. I can still do this and still be me.

So, my goal is to take at least one photo every day of something I find beautiful, interesting and/or worthy of sharing. While these posts will automatically be archived on this blog, I won't be including most of them on my index. I have created a photography page, but you can also see at least one photo a day (I hope!) on my new 365 Project page.

(Do you have a 365 Project? If so, share your link below!)

For today, I decided to really look at some of the treasures my daughters have collected recently. I'm sure those of you with children have a countless number of "treasures" scattered throughout your home and yard. Am I the only one who often just says, "Oooh, yes, beautiful!" after a hurried glance in my busy day and forgets about those objects so special to her children? Please tell me I'm not.

So, I took a little walk around the house today. I went to their "camp" where they collect stones, sticks and any number of items to decorate this camp. I examined the items they leave at the door after their walks through the yard or neighborhood. And I found beauty.

Large round slab in their camp

Twisted wood in their camp

Rocks and fossils collected and deposited by the door