Searching For Beauty in the Everyday

"Life is full of ups and downs- mountains and valleys, smiles and frowns. But friendship is there to be found. Love is there to be found. Bright moments are there to be found...and therein lies the beauty." - Ashley Rice

At mypiggywiggy, we wholeheartedly believe in living a life of simple attainable beauty, a life where one notices the little things, slows down to appreciate the gifts of Nature, and being purposeful about setting our sights on the good and simple things in life. But sometimes it's not so easy to live the little things or to pause. Here I want to share my recent experience of pausing and finding beauty in the simple everyday gifts of Nature.

I found a quote (probably on Pinterest) about how modern society is conditioning us to always look FORWARD to a big event or milestone in life, but really LIFE is made up of mostly the small and ordinary moments and those milestones are far and few in between.

This touched me so much because when I had come across this quote, I was feeling a bit listless about wanting to travel abroad again and stressing about plans for the shop as Oregon lifted restrictions. I wanted to see something new, experience another place that felt like I was transported in time, and some small part of me wanted to escape and be left alone for awhile.

For that whole week every minute and every hour seemed to blur all together. I remember several times that week asking out loud "What day is it?"

That Saturday I took some much needed time for myself. I woke up early (though I always wake up at 6) but usually on weekends I sleep in until 7 (GASP!) and made myself a cup of coffee. Then I went outside, barefoot, and faced the sunshine. A mix of cold morning air and warmth kissed my cheeks, the mug of warm coffee in my hands. I remember taking a lot of deep breaths. Breathe in. Breath out. Repeat.

Then I noticed all the little things. The way the light dappled through the trees. The little birds pecking at the ground where I sprinkled some bird seed awhile ago. The sound of the leaves rustling in the breeze. The goosebumps I felt on my arm. The steam of the coffee. 

"Be glad of life

because it gives you the chance to live

and to work

and to play

and to look at the stars"

- Henry Van Dyke

It was all right there and had been all there every morning that week, I just never took time to pause and appreciate it. More deep breaths. I walked around the lawn with bare feet feeling grass and dirt against my skin. How grounding it was, literally, to feel like a part of the world. To look up at the very tall and very old fir trees in our yard and be reminded how small I am. How small, in the big scheme of things, my worries were. 

And I was reminded that the simple beauty of Nature lies everywhere and how restorative it can be when you simply choose to pause and take notice.