Girls Night Out - made me laugh. ------->  CLICK HERE!

Inspiration.

I came downstairs to find this:

My parents relationship inspires me - it shows me what I want, gives me hope and makes me so excited.  They laugh just as loud as they fight - and I think that is perfect. 

search for it - notice it - see it.

This morning my heart is full, not because everything is perfect, right or even good - but because I am choosing to linger in the love I know is sure and envision the beauty I know exists.  This choice is not spontaneous, sappy or even sincere - but conscious and calculated.  It is an effort to rise above the common place cloud of confusion, pain and fear - to slow down, savor and really see.  To see through eyes that detect the delicate details of beauty in the seemingly un-beautiful.  Eyes that seek the sincere, value the vulnerable and notice the novice.  Eyes that see past the plaster, the skin, the safe - eyes that hold the beauty of the raw, stripped and stained.  In this life it seems very few things are forever, sure or even secure - minds change, problems progress, hate hovers and shit happens.  But - there is so much beyond that, it seems we just have to search for it - notice it - see it.

I see beauty in the subtle, squinty wrinkles around my fathers bright green eyes - put there by the sun he never shied away from and evidence of his unshielded thirst to experience the unexperienced.  I see beauty in the stark white hair of my wise, regal grandfather and the calluses of my never idle, always tending - teaching - trusting grandmother.  I see beauty in the curly, crazy hair that dresses my sweet mommas head - for it reminds me of the zing, passion and creativity that oozes from her very being.  I see beauty in the simple heart my sister once carved into her left knee - for it reminds me that even scars can create unexplainable beauty.    

A tall, handsome, honorable man once told me, "Say what you feel - not what you should."  I have spent many hours trying to organize what I feel - what I feel is a tricky thing.  It changes just like the ups and downs of the rolling sea.  But, in spite of all the ups and downs one thing remains constant, and that is the warmth that wells deep within my heart with the appreciation, creation and contemplation of beauty.  Beauty that is not common or quantifiable, but beauty that is found in the details, the ugly, the honest, the raw - the vulnerable.  There is no telling what horrors tomorrow could bring - but we can be sure that some beauty will exist today, tomorrow and forever - we just have to search for it - notice it - see it.  

This video has been popping up all over my Facebook feed, I shared it and sang its praise.  This video reminds me how essential it is to not only love others - but love ourselves.  This video seems to screams a simple message to my slow thumping heart, saying: "Elliot - be gentle with yourself, love yourself, for you are fearfully and wonderfully made - you have your own type of beauty that is more then skin deep - you. are. more. beautiful. then. you. acknowledge."  But is that really what it is saying - or is that just the message I wanted to take from it?

A person I really respect told me how much this video frustrats him- he pointed out that things like "freckles, round faces and wrinkles" are labeled as ugly and that things like "blue eyes, thin face and soft chin" are labeled as beautiful.  I agree with him, this suggestion is frusterating - I don't think blue eyes, freckles, wrinkles or any list of things should ever define a persons beauty.  My mother has always said that ". . . pretty is, as pretty does."  I see so much truth, promise and value in this saying.  Being pretty doesn't come from our skin - but from what is underneath it - our minds - our souls - our compassion - our hearts.   

The more I think about this video the more I realize how much I love the idea behind it, but question the execution and details it suggests.  I wonder how many of my best of intentions are lost in translation because I lack the attention to detail and intentional insight it takes to effectivly execute and communicate a good idea.

Tonight my heart hurts - my heart breaks for my favorite city.

Tragedies like this remind me how absolutely essential it is to love while we can.  So I say - kiss your lover, tell your secrets to the ears you want to hear, hug your friends, appreciate the little things, say "I love you," when you mean it and don't hold anything back - it could all be over, before we even decide to start.

Love and prayers to everyone in Boston, you are in our hearts and on our minds.  

Never. Be. A. More. Beautiful. YOU.

A beautiful love song for all my beautiful friends out there - there could NEVER be a more beautiful YOU.  I love you and am so grateful for all of you.  xo

There's a lot of pain in reaching out and trying

It's a vulnerable place to be

Love and pride can't occupy the same spaces, baby

Only one makes you free

--Loving a Person - Sara Groves