August 2022 Reflection Question: Where have you seen beauty this year? In yourself, around you, in the people around you, in the world?

Beauty in the world of chaos feels impossible, doesn’t it? When every piece of news feels heavy, overwhelming, dark, and ugly, it can feel like there’s no room for beauty. Or even beauty shouldn’t be allowed. What beauty that does peek through is brief and fleeting, fading away almost as quickly as it sprouted.

But this impossible beauty isn’t only reserved for our chaotic global world, sometimes it feels impossible in our personal world too. If things feel stagnant, or we feel trapped (in some way, shape or form), then beauty can feel stifled. If life feels too exhausting or too fast, it can feel like there isn’t time or space for beauty.

Maybe this is true – beauty is hard to see or discover or make time for right now. And maybe beauty isn’t just what is immediate, glaring, obvious or passive. Maybe the beauty we are looking for or desiring isn’t only in the bursts from the passing of a beautiful smile to another, but is a beauty that is discovered and cultivated.

Discover beauty

Sometimes beauty isn’t just in the obvious of what we see – the flowers along the road or the beauty in someone’s smile. Sometimes it takes a little more digging beyond the surface to see. Beauty can be in the heart of someone making you a meal when you are sick. Beauty can be seen in how someone cares for their garden through weeding. Beauty can be in the hidden parts of life.

Cultivate beauty

Sometimes beauty takes a little work and time. Whether that’s in the work of creating a meal that both looks and tastes beautiful or whether that’s in creating a space to feel beautiful.

I have recently outgrown my current desk situation and with that comes needing a new desk. However I don’t want to buy a new desk and have decided to DIY (do-it-yourself) a desk. This looks like finding pieces off of Facebook Marketplace to hodge podge something together. One such piece is an old chestnut dresser I found for $20. It needs work and the past week I have been putting in the work to make it functional, and beautiful. It’s ugly right now, wood half stripped, but as I work on it, I am cultivating beauty.

Whether beauty has been easy for you to see this year or hard, how are you discovering and cultivating beauty? How are you both seeking beauty and bringing beauty into the world (something we’re all about here at Kindred & Co.)?

We do it every day, whether we recognize it or not. Can you challenge yourself to discover one beautiful thing this week and begin to cultivate beauty somewhere else? 

After all, the phrase is “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Beauty is out there, it’s up to us to believe it is, find it and see it. 

PS: If you’re looking to send some beauty to friends, and inspire fall to arrive, check out our newly launched Fall 2022 cards! Limited collection available.