The Beauty That Surrounds Us

Every morning, since I’ve arrived in Oaxaca, I’ve taken about 6-10 photos a day of the beauty around me. I would also do this in Queens; often finding beauty within the cracked paint that covered another Mary in a half shell, the homages to the Virgin Guadalupe with faux flowers in front of them, flocks of pigeons on the street feasting as though it was their final meal. There was beauty in all of it.

Beauty is a strange word. Mainly, well, I don’t know about you, because I used to associate it with people, physical bodies and looks. And in this association beauty had to be perfect, flawless and pristine. Beauty was likened to the tall, lean beauty and milky white skin of Nicole Kidman. Her perfect ginger hair, slender arms, thigh gap and what appeared to be unlimited amounts of confidence when she walked a red carpet or when a paparazzi photo was taken at a pool.

I am simultaneously glad and relieved that my definition of beauty has evolved beyond people, beyond the physical characteristics of body. I’m happy that my definition of beauty is now captured in moments of moving slowly and intentionally. From cracked walls, to food, cups of coffee, flowers, the typography on the outside of a tienda or graffiti on a wall - it’s all beautiful.

To see beauty, we have to feel beauty. We also have to be an active participant in feeling it because it exists well beyond what we can see with our eyes.

What if you took even one photo a day of your surroundings? Maybe your pet? I don’t know, maybe even yourself? To not only see, but catalog the beauty that you felt, the beauty that is inherent in you and in what lives beyond you.

Above are some photos I took this week that I hope inspire you to look and feel more deeply in your world. I’ve told myself that If I don’t stop to take at least 1 photo of something beautiful, something that catches my eye, then I’m moving too quickly and that’s not allowed in my world anymore.