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Opening My Eyes

March 05, 2013

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There is beauty in the everyday, you just have to look for it and recognize it around you. I did.

This is my tale of awakening.

Red Tulips Close Up

After a truly terrible year, living with my head down, seeing only the awful and ugly that was thrust into my narrow field of view, I suddenly realized...well, remembered...that no matter how horrible things may get, grace and loveliness surround us all the time.

We don’t always see them as we unconsciously stride through our days.

Getting kids off to school.

Running to work, caring for an elderly parent.

Cooking, cleaning, living.

But they are there and they can soothe the soul and excite the senses if we allow ourselves to recognize them.

Once I shared my epiphany with others, I began to realize that so many of us exist with our eyes closed to the beauty that surrounds us in our own lives, oftentimes, beauty that we have created ourselves.

Why is that?

Why don’t we see it?

Is it that we are simply too busy to notice it or is it something more?

Are we overlooking some lovely aspect of our day, because we don’t recognize it as amazing?

Perhaps it's something we see day in and day out, so we no longer find pleasure in it.

Maybe because it's routine, we don’t classify it as something to savor or maybe we judge attractiveness and aesthetic value on someone else’s definition of beautiful.

Does your living room measure up to the one in the catalog?

Red And White Cottage Style Living Room

 As a society, we have become so numb and desensitized to the barrage of glossy images that float across our tablets, smartphones and TVs that we are looking for something really outstanding to catch our eye for it to be labeled as beautiful and justified in bringing us pleasure.

We, all too often, overlook something of significant appeal because of its simplicity or familiarity…like sunsets. The beach.

Cabana Chair on the beach

Or a bouquet of flowers.

I'm guilty of this myself.

However, I am on a quest to change this and prove that everyday life is lovely and that extraordinary beauty is lurking in our ordinary surroundings.

I want to alter not only my way of looking at my world but my way of perceiving it as well. After all, as my book club girls recently reaffirmed, perception is reality.

My journey begins in my own backyard, my decidedly average home, located in a sweet, beach neighborhood.

Butterfly Garden

While the upscale dwellings I drool over in magazines and website photos are stunning, I will never live there (does anyone actually live there?).

So I figure if I can regularly uncover something alluring here, among the laundry and the dishes, then beauty is in fact residing in the everyday.

I'm not looking to focus on serious subject matter, there is far too much of that working its way into each and every day as it is.

I’m looking to share a lighthearted piece on friendships or a yummy recipe, a craft or decorating project you might try, some attractive photos at the very least.

The subject doesn’t need to be weighty to matter and that’s the point.

Simple things, like a beautifully made bed or an artfully displayed floral arrangement can lift spirits and enliven us.

In the right context, at the right moment, the unremarkable can be truly exquisite.

Wooden Candle Holder Spray painted gold and displayed with candles lit

I think I just need to pay attention more and maybe, just maybe, seeing things in this way will become a wonderful habit and transform not only my pretentious artist’s eye, but my battered soul as well.

I hope that my journey will prompt you to look at your own life to find the loveliness that, I’m sure, already exists around you.

Here's hoping.

♡♡♡
Kim Signature


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  1. Wow, beautifully put and inspiring.
    -Amanda

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    1. Thank you Amanda. I am so glad that it touched you.

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  2. It's true we can see the darkness, or the beauty....
    Looking forward to reading more.
    Tracy

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    1. Yes, I guess it really is a choice. I believe the real trick is trying to remain mindful of that!

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  3. I am sorry your year hasn't been going well. It can be hard to find a ray of light when things are going wrong, but I think you are on the right track. Encouragement and prayers are coming your way from Wisconsin.

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    1. Thank you Jeanne, you are very sweet! Today your words are the loveliness that surround me! :)

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  4. "Everyday life is lovely" is the easiest way to phrase it! We often lose sight of the beautiful things or the opportunity to be happy by missing those four simple words. Nice post and great perspective.

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    1. Thank you and that's exactly how I feel...we lose perspective and fail to see the loveliness that is right in front of us. I'm simply trying to keep it in mind...

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  5. Good morning Kim,
    Happy Anniversary!
    Have I told you lately that you are my inspiration blog? I love your excquisitely unremarkably simple point of view. Your simple living room is still my computer wallpaper, and I am working toward simplifying my own. I may just paint all my upholstered furniture instead of trying to find or make slipcovers. (Yeah, right... I don't have trouble with the bobbin on my sewing machine - it's the tension that gives me fits.)
    And puzzle pieces! Hey! Maybe that's what I'll do today. The week has been almost a wash, but I can make a cool puzzle piece wreath in a heartbeat, using one of my many many paint samples.
    Thanks for being so . . . human!

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    1. Nancy, all I can say in my simple style is thank you, thank you, thank you!

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  6. The present winter has been ... and continues to be ... long, dreary and quite nasty for many of us. But yesterday the sun arrived, casting marvelous shadows on barren trees, sparkling glitter across the endless white snow, and offering an amazing sunset at day's end. How could anyone not find beauty in that. So glad you shared this post again.
    Wishes to all for a wonderful weekend.

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    1. It sounds lovely, Cheryl. There certainly is loveliness everywhere...even in the snow! ;)

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  7. Very inspiring. I am very happy to have found you. God bless you always Kim.

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    1. Barbara, thank you for your kind words! :)

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  8. This is a classic. Congrats on keeping it exquisitely real for ten years!

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    1. Thank you so much!! You have no idea what your comment means!

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