The Beauty Venture: collecting beauty for thirty days.

Beauty in the water.

I’ve decided to “collect beauty” for thirty days. I don’t even really know what that means, or what it will do, but I have a sense it will be life quality enhancing. As a mental health professional and inveterately curious human, I’m always interested in what simple practices we can do that will improve our lives in this current age of busy-ness and overstimulation.

I’m aesthetically sensitive. Always have been. I have an artist’s eye, and like I said in this blog post, I can “spot the shot” even if I can’t always get it. Inspired by The Happiness Project, (something I was curious about as a help for my clients) and my own reading of One Thousand Gifts, a book about the practice of gratitude, I’m going to embark on a journey of collecting and sharing beauty for thirty days. And we’ll see what happens.

I will do a little self-reflection in each post and add some quotes for you to think on. Today in church the preaching was on finding our purpose in life, and I reflected on the parable of the sower—some seeds fell on hard ground, some on soft and came up, but were quickly choked out by weeds. Other seed fell on good ground—and I felt like God was showing me I am someone who helps prepare others’ “ground” for growth.

I have a gift with helping people get ready for growth, even though I’m not always directly involved with that growth.

I can live with that. Every garden needs its soil prepared before a crop can grow, and my books fit right into that, being about overcoming and finding beauty in the darkness.

I invite you to join me on the Beauty Venture and see where it takes us.