Beauty. What is it? How do we define it? What will we do to obtain it?
I think beauty is something you can not hold in your hand. It is silent and ethereal. It is the soft whisper of a child sleeping. It is the bright red lips of a beautiful woman. It is the elbow of your husband. It is the dog’s bad breath. It is familiar, it is far. It is unusual. It is aloof and kind. It cuddles with you as you read an awesome book. It is everywhere. It is within you.
When I taught 4th grade in California, ten plus years ago, I encouraged my students to say this everyday aloud (“I am beautiful, brilliant, wonderful, and strong.” ) They would chant it. It was my first year teaching and it was a magical year. I wonder if those students remember me and if they still say that. I hope so. Children are powerful teachers. I learned so much from that group of students.
I recently was nominated for this award: The Beautiful Blogger. Thank you Blazing Trail.
This award comes with some rules… (oh rules — you know how I feel about those, but I will play nicely)
1. Thank the person who nominated you and Link to that person
Thank you Blazing Trail.
2. Post the award on your blog.
Check
3. Nominate 7 (or less) blogs and link to them:
- http://debrasblogpureandsimple.blogspot.com/ I love this lady. She and I met at a party. We shared a love of literature, wine, and The Sun magazine. When I was in graduate school and whining about my thesis, she said, “Put your big girl writer panties on.” She is hilarious and always gives me a dose of honest writing advice when needed.
- http://cbwentworth.wordpress.com/ I have come to know this writer through the blogosphere. She is a dedicated teacher, as well as a free spirit, journaler, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction writer. She is a huge fan of Wreck This Journal. She is highly organized and dedicated with her posts and someday I’d love to meet her. She is a passionate teacher who goes against the grain. Public education is lucky to have her, and so are we.
- http://mezclados.wordpress.com/ This is a good friend of mine. She is an Aries like me and a bit of a scatter-brain with all her creative projects. She writes, paints, mothers, works, and appreciates art. She also has two toddlers she adopted and a teenager she adopted. She is amazing. Her blog is about mixed families. Her husband is white, she is black. Check her blog out. Her heart is the color of a rainbow.
- http://peacesofgreen.wordpress.com/ This is another good friend of mine. I adore her. We met when I lived in California. She is one of my best friends on this planet. She is a nature lover. She recently moved to Oregon — to a town she had never been to. She just felt in her heart that is where she belongs. She followed her dream and wrote extensively about her trip cross-country, as she moved to a new town without a job.
- http://quinncreative.wordpress.com/ Can you say creative? Well, this woman is creativity personified. She has several books on mixed media journaling and creating. She is lovely.
- http://judesphotography.wordpress.com/ This is one of my cyber buddies. She is delightful. She is a British woman living in France, who is a writer, photographer, small airplane enthusiast (I love it when she posts photos taken from her airplane) and someone I adore.
- http://kindnessgirl.com/ This is Kindness Girl. She is a mom and kindness activist. Yes, she is an activist and has all kinds of projects designed to pass it forward. Check out her latest project, The Magic Wand Project, where she leaves little magic wands around Richmond, Virginia encouraging children to do acts of kindness. Ellen Degeneres follows her blog. I hope someday to see her on Ellen talking about her contagious kindness campaign. Her tagline is “Kindness changes everything.” Indeed, that is true.
- http://deborahbatterman.com/ This woman is so charming. I discovered her blog and amazing writing talent through a writer facebook community.
- http://www.thejadedlens.com/ This blog is amazing! This woman is a photographer, kind spirit, and a good friend of mine, who I have had the pleasure of meeting through a writer facebook community. Her photos are beautiful and the prose she writes is gorgeous. Meeting her and developing a cyber friendship with her has restored my faith in humanity. I am a big believer in big hearts and I do think everyone has kindness in them and beauty, but she truly shines — genuine, honest, inspiring, and whimsical.
4. Tell you 7 things about myself that you do not already know.
Oh Meg, I love you too, and how well I remember that first time we met and chatted at R.N’s eclectic party. We never have liked the rules, have we? But you do much better at playing them than I! You even played them here on a blog post 😉
Enjoyed these memory ramblings: meeting Michael Jordan (Rick Flair once patted my butt at a New Year’s Eve party and my husband didn’t DARE protest!); what prompted your writing career; pomegranates; Catholic school; your teenage embarrassment of father’s taste in cars…
Beautiful!
http://debrasblogpureandsimple.blogspot.com/2012/06/la-la-land.html
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Oh Debra, you are too cool for school! Love you too. And thanks for your thoughtful comment. I love a good ramble!
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Beauty is a state of mind.
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Ben, It certainly is a state of mind and heart.
“The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.”
– Albert Einstein
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A permission too many folk make too little use of,sadly.
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Megan-what a lovely surprise. Thank you so much! I am blushing and tearful (happy tears) over your thoughts about my site, my work. To do something from the heart that makes it to another’s heart is my idea of heaven…the knowledge that what we do matters.
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Britton,
It was my delight to give you that award. You certainly deserve it. You blog always adds such joy in my life.
I hope you enjoy sharing your good news with your readers. I bet my readers have enjoyed seeing your beautiful photos.
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You totally deserve this award!! 🙂
Thank you for the nomination and for saying so many nice things.
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CB, Right back at ya ladycakes! How is your summer break going? I hope you have lots of time to write write write. You are so organized with your time. I have been stealing time from the night. It catches up with me, but I adore the quiet. Oh — how I love the quiet. I rarely listen to music bc I love silence so much. But when I do listen to music — you know it- – country music all the way!
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Yeah! Yahoo! & Congratulations!
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Russell Ray Photos — Thank you. I always enjoy seeing the tracks you leave when you camp out on my blog. Little remnants of Russel Ray — a neatly folded “tent” track (several messages in my inbox that you liked my posts). Always a delight to have you.
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Congratulations, Megan. This is one of the most beautifully-written award posts I’ve ever read. I love the mantra you instilled in your students, and imagine them still saying it today. And I had to chuckle about Michael Jordan. I played basketball too and if I had been on the same court with MJ I probably would have passed out.
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Becky,
Thank you for your kind words. I am flattered since I visited your amazing blog and saw all the awards you have received. 🙂 I am glad we connected and I am looking forward to getting to know you and your blog. I loved your post about the West. I am from Wyoming (now living in North Carolina) and those open roads, skies, and hearts stay with you. I can’t tell you how free I feel under a Wyoming sky, with only blue sky and miles of open roads and trails. Wyoming really is like no place on earth and forever in my heart.
Meeting MJ at 15 was amazing. He was at the height of his career (late 80’s) and he was just so kind. The fact that he made a point to referee every team’s game at least once is a tribute to his character.
I am so interested in your blog and your travels. How exciting and what an amazing experience to see so many different cultures. The world is a beautiful place. There is so much beauty.
And as far as those kids go, I sure hope they hear those words. I see their little faces in my memory — they taught me so much. They were lucky to experience the pinnacle of my free spirit teaching days. The system clipped my wings, but they still flutter pretty wildly still. Once a free spirit, always a free spirit at heart.
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Now I know you love pomengranates – – a poetic, mythical fruit if ever there was one. And I’m gratified to say I know at least some of the bloggers in whose company you place me. The others I will happily familiarize myself with. Thank you, Megan.
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Deborah,
Pomegranates are indeed poetic. My mom loved them too. My parents enjoyed exotic fruit. My father especially, he always had some oddly shaped fruit in his hand. He was a health. He once served us dandelion soup and my mother was so mad. You are quite welcome; I admire your work. You are so very talented.
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What wonderful things about beauty you have written Megan! I love the part about the “dogs bad breath” : )). I know what you mean and completely agree… Congratulations on this award – You deserve every bit of it! And congratulations to all you have chosen to pass the award on to as well.
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Kriti,
Thank you for your comments. I think there is much beauty in the ugly and unnoticed. Thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope to get to know you more. I did not find a website for you. Your link led me back to Twitter, where it says you area writer. What do you write about? I’d love to follow some of your musings. Let me know where I can read some of your work.
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I’ve been away from writing so long… Thank you for thinking of me. Congrats on the award; you are a beautiful, daring woman. Light and love, Sus
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Of course my dear friend. I am so happy you have found your place on this big earth. Oregon is the place for you. You are so engaged in the landscape there and the activities centered around your passions, hiking and nature, and conservation. You inspire me dear friend.
Please post something soon, your writing is delicious. I love your words.
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