Through the years, I’ve heard from you that you like my posts about unexpected beauty. Some of you have suggested writing about things that aren’t traditionally considered beautiful but are still beautiful in some way. Both of these comments reminded me of something I saw about ten years ago.
My husband Mart, our daughter, and I went to the High Museum of Art to see the Girl With a Pearl Earring exhibition. That painting is one of my favorites--truly stunning--and it drew me to research more about Vermeer and his Dutch contemporaries. I’ll write about that in a future post.
But afterward, we were walking outside in the plaza, past a small grouping of tables and chairs where people were eating and talking. As I threaded my way around the tables, something on the ground caught my eye.
A white rectangle was lying on a dirty drainage grate: a sticker with this message, “You are beautiful.” To the right of the sticker was a yellow leaf.
The interesting little scene stopped me: the grungy grate, the simple sticker, and the yellow leaf.
At that time in my life, I wasn’t taking many photos. When my daughter was younger I constantly took photos of her, rushing the film to the drugstore for developing, but somewhere along the way, I’d gotten out of the habit. And I didn’t really feel comfortable with small digital camera I’d gotten for Christmas one year.
But it didn’t matter much that much, because my husband has an eye for design and photography, and as our daughter grew older, so did she. They often took interesting, creative shots.
But I didn’t think I had that eye. Plus, my phone was always in the bottom of my purse, while hers was always in her hand and his was as close as his pocket. So I would get them to send me their photos rather than taking my own.
Standing over that grate, I looked up to see where they were, but they had walked on ahead.
This is ridiculous, I thought. You want the photo. Take it yourself! So I dug my phone out of the dark recesses of my purse, leaned down and took a picture of that grungy grate--and so much more.
Even though the sticker is crooked (and the photo is too!), it’s still one of my favorites. Taking this picture was one of those moments in time that becomes even more important later. It was the beginning of something big for me—of me paying attention and capturing whatever catches my eye.
It was one of the things that eventually led me to starting Glimsen. A bit of unexpected beauty outside the art museum. And it made me smile.
Do you see beauty in the photo? Maybe in the sticker’s message or simple design? The color and symmetry of the leaf? The geometric design of the grate? The neutral palette that serves as a foil for the brilliant yellow?
The grate was an unexpected, but perfect, spot for such a sticker because not everyone would see it, and those who did see it might feel like they'd been given a secret message. As if they shared a secret with the person who put the sticker there.
I feel that way about beauty sometimes. When I come across it, I feel that God and I have a secret. He knows that I love beauty, and because he's a personal God, he uses it to touch me in some way. Of course, beauty is not just for me; it's a gift for all of us. And I, for one, am deeply grateful for its existence and for the opportunity to share it with you.
When have you come across unexpected beauty? Leave a comment or email me. I'd love to hear about it.
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