The (Almost) Daily Dose: Art Appreciation

Life is art. And every day offers us a new 24 to appreciate its beauty.

This weekend my friend Jennifer sent me a photo of the 1944 Cedric Morris painting above. So appropriate for Easter but also such a delicious contemplation of their beauty. Also, well, I am a massive sucker for pink. And then I saw the blue festival below in an e-Easter greeting from design retailer Serena & Lily. I want those in MY basket! The capacity for human creativity in evidence gave me a second boost of egg pleasure. Keep your eyes open for the beauty, the cleverness and the cool and you will be constantly rewarded with these electric surges of joy.

Even if today sucks, we are still allowed these bursts. I do believe it is our responsibility to take them in. The difficult, but also marvelous, truth of adulthood is the constant co-existence of joy and sadness. Life is grey. I am so sad for all the sick people in the world right now, and the hungry people and the displaced people and the very, very tired people doing their best to save and care for all of the above. But I consider it my duty BECAUSE of them to appreciate my healthy, lucky life to its fullest. That is how I honor them.

So today I look out the window at the bird traffic jam on our feeders and observe the two towhees who seem to be loving our front porch. One of them jumps on the rim of our giant ceramic plant container and looks in the window at me. I feel like it’s a she, and she is saying hello. My mom loved birds and I feel her every time I have a moment like this. She spent her entire life and raised four children in Pittsburgh. She loved sunshine and when it came out in Pittsburgh (not the majority of days, I might add) she would tug on the string that lifted the blinds, pull them all the way up, and shout: “WHAT A GORGEOUS DAY!!”

I can still hear her and I honor her by taking in the gorgeousness wherever I can find it.

Today it is the snow. The continuous flurry of flakes. The bright white reflection of it everywhere. I love the quiet that it brings. I love the way it blankets tree branches and the mountains that are our daily landscape. Today’s massive work of art is snow. It needs no frame. No price of admission. Just give it a moment and breathe.