Finding Beauty in the Unexpected, Day 1: Brought to You By the Letter "S"

Okay, I'm doing things a little backwards here. I'm hoping to have a blog entry (or entries) up this weekend that explains what I'm up to here in more detail. Basically, I've been thinking a lot about beauty, gratitude, and silver linings lately. I want to make a conscious effort to have more of each of these things in my life.

On our walk this morning, I was struck by the perfect Lenten resolution. This happens to me every year - I think of the best resolution about mid-way through Lent. But instead of saying, "Oh, well..." like I usually do, I said, "No, this could be a moment where I look at the silver lining. It's not, 'well, that's a missed opportunity'; it's, 'wow, I still have about a month to commit myself to this project!'" We're about a month away from Easter. Until then (well, actually probably until April 5 - because I'm an A-type personality and committing to this for a full month gives me a greater sense of peace), I going to have a daily post on here that shows you something beautiful in an unexpected place. This could be something lovely I often overlook, something mundane that I often forget to be grateful for, or something that gives me a profound sense of hope or peace. My goal is not to go out of my way to find these things. Instead, I want to notice those things that are already around me.

I have to admit this kind of feels like the anti-Lent to this Catholic school girl - finding hope in these forty days instead of despair. But aren't Easter, Passover, and other spring festivals about finding the good amidst the sorrow and grief? Isn't it ultimately about seeing the tulips peek out of the ground instead of thinking, "It's been such a *long* winter..."

So forgive me; I'm starting with another picture of the dog. But really, Sully is my mentor when it comes to unconditional love and gratitude. I wish I could burst out of bed every morning as happy as he is to be alive.

Now that we're seeing more of that bright, shinny ball in the sky, Sully spends his mornings in this lovely, sunny spot. He doesn't seem to mind that there is a chair there and the patch is small; he just gets what sunshine he can. The large tome under the chair is my (newer) copy of the Norton Shakespeare that was discarded there at some point as I was finishing the draft of my second chapter. Sunshine, Sully, and Shakespeare - that's my idea of a lovely spot, indeed.