Finding Respite Through Beauty

This has been, and still is, a tough year for many people.

The stock market is plummeting. The country is deeply divided. Major manufacturing companies are undergoing massive layoffs. The federal government is more dysfunctional than usual. Senior administration officials are fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. Several others have been indicted or have pleaded guilty to prison-worthy crimes. Parts of the government are shut down because Congress hasn't been able to come up with a budget that pleases his majesty in the White House. 

So I decided to try and lighten the mood a bit by posting on my personal Facebook page a photo every day until Christmas. I decided to share a photograph of one of the beautiful things I have photographed. I've been doing this for the past 10 days or so. 

With Christmas just a couple of days away, I asked my FB friends whether they wanted me to continue after Christmas. So many people said I definitely should keep posting a beautiful photo every day, that I will continue to do so until they get tired of looking at my photos or I run out of fresh material to share (highly unlikely). One person noted "Don't you dare stop! In these difficult days, your photos bring me joy."

I started thinking about what she said, and I do realize that beautiful things -- be they photographs, seeing something beautiful in person, or even listening to beautiful music -- do, in fact, bring me joy. That's one thing I like about my home office. Although the rest of the house is decorated in the Southwest style, my office walls are filled with images of wolves, elephants and leopards. An African wood mask is on one wall, and on another wall is a large wooden elephant head given to me by my daughter. 

Some may not find beauty in a photograph of an elephant or a wolf, but I do. These are things about which I care deeply. These animals are beautiful in their own way. I love sunrises. I love beautiful landscapes untouched by humans. I love the intense gaze of a female leopard as she looks directly at me. I love the affection shared by an orphan elephant and the man who cares for her, as she wraps her trunk around his hand. That is beauty, too. Some find beauty in a bird, or in a colorful flower, or in seeing a mountain reflected in a lake.

The world is crazy. The normal -- whatever that means -- order of things is topsy turvy, not just in the United States, but around the world. There seems to be so much more bad news than positive news. So finding respite, if only for a few moments, is so important to my, and others', mental health.

I treasure my photographs, not just because they bring back memories of where and when I took them, and of the friends with whom I shared experiences. They also bring me joy. Looking at an image of a stunning sunrise or sunset fills me with awe. And it brings me joy to know that my photographs bring happiness to others, that perhaps they brighten an otherwise sad day, that maybe they inspire others to become more aware of the beauty that surrounds them.

So take a break from this upside down, anger- and hate-filled world. Find, and savor, whatever beauty makes you happy.