The Beautiful Mundane

It’s Saturday. The early morning light is dancing through my windows. The birds are singing. Today is a beautiful day.

When you hear the term, “live your life to the full,” what do you think of? Chances are, it involves lots of travelling, adventures, and plenty of experiences that you can’t have today. We hang maps on our walls which remind us less of the places we've already been and more of the places we dream of being. The question is, just how much life do we miss while we wish we were somewhere else, doing something else?

In order to celebrate this moment, you have to find out what turns your mundane into beautiful. For me, creativity is definitely one of those things that helps me appreciate the now. If I'm making something, even something small, it can brighten up a day instantly.

We're so quick to believe the lie that our everyday lives have to be social-media perfect, every second of every day. This lie robs us of so much joy that can be found in this very moment. Look up. Look around. What is something that has made you smile today? It can be something small. It can be something that seemed insignificant at the time. But by learning to notice these moments, your mundane can become something really beautiful.
Have yourself a beautiful day!

photos & their stories

i. We took the back road home so I could take this photo. There are forests full of these trees all around where we live. I love them most in the golden hour, when light slices through the leaves. Some moments simply beg you to live them; which can be as simple as pulling over to capture a scene otherwise forgotten.

ii. Every October, the country turns purple with Jacaranda flowers clinging to branches and, as they fall, covering the grass in a thick carpet. Solitude is found in sitting under a tree, waiting for purple rain.

iii. It seems every year I forget how much I love spring, so when the air turns sweet and full of golden light, I’m surprised again at the beauty of it all. Every walk seems to turn into a wild-flower picking expedition. And I’m okay with that.

i am forever inspired by hands

Every pair of hands tells a story, and we shouldn’t be daunted to tell ours. The creases in your palm tell of hours spent with hands curled, clutching, holding. The calluses on your fingertips declare perseverance. The markings and scars have tales of their own to share, about mistakes covered by new life. At the end of it all, I desire to have hands worn and injured and mended—if they were to tell a story, I want it to be one of an unrelenting pursuit to respond. Outstretched, abandoned hands are the ones God uses to bring heaven to earth.