When something is beautiful, everybody realizes it. It’s like walking into a grove of old-growth redwoods or witnessing an extraordinary sunset. Alice Waters, American award-winning chef, a pioneer in locally grown, California cuisine
I’m quoting Waters today as I think about our neighbors in California who are experiencing unprecedented fires. Such a beautiful state. I’m so sorry for your losses.
California beauty, like beauty everywhere, enriches our lives. When I was a social worker, I visited a single woman who lived with many children in a dirt-floor hovel. One daughter was deaf and I was helping her obtain hearing aids. When I showed up unannounced at Fanny’s, the floors were always swept, clutter put away, and a jar of wild flowers sat on the scarred table. I knew Fanny over 50 years ago but I’ve never forgotten the beauty of her home. She literally had nothing yet she found a way to create beauty in her surroundings. She inspired me to do the same.
No matter how humble, everyone recognizes beauty.
Affirmation: I recognize and share beauty.
Coaching questions: How important is beauty to you? What difference do your surroundings make in how you feel about your life? What can you do today to create more beauty around you?
Life after losing a mother 
I create for how it makes ME feel. I subscribe to a garden website where contributors post photos of gardens they have created. I look at some and think that they are “busy, or messy” but understand they fed the creator’s soul, helped him/her feel wonderful, accomplished — therefore they are beautiful. It’s about the artist.
(Opportunity for a message:). That’s why it is so important to keep art and music in our schools.)
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Great comments. I’m so glad you brought up schools!! Thanks for your thoughtfulness.
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