Shining Thru

Spring and fall have always been my favorite seasons of the year because they both involve change.  I love the fall colors and how the flowers bloom in the spring.  I love how it feels different, it gives you more and it’s a beautiful change.  I never have to wonder if I will like it or not because the leaves always change to the vibrant fall rainbow and spring breaks the powerful and majestic thunderstorms and gorgeous flowers.  It’s funny how even though a lot of people associate fall with dying things, I still think it’s beautiful and just the right temperature.  You can enjoy the outdoors, without hiding from the sun or the snow.  Spring is the same, warm breeze that comes and sweeps through everything after the darkness of winter.  Even down in the south where there isn’t much of what the northerners would call winter, it is still bleak, cold, and gloomy at times.  Spring is refreshing and makes you enjoy life again. 

Spring and fall bring about a change that I can truly appreciate because they are the two seasons that are the most beautiful and I think the two that there is not a lot of arguing about when they show up.  When the ground thaws and the flowers start to bloom it’s spring; when the leaves start changing colors and you bring out the sweat shirts, it’s fall.  I like that it’s fairly consistent.  I don’t have to wonder about how severe or if the weather will stay.  These are the laid back seasons, a time to simply enjoy and not sweat the little things.  Time to enjoy the fresh air and the beauty of nature. 

The colors blend together

blues, greens, and grays

so beautiful and fresh

the drops start coming down slow

spaced so unevenly and unpredictable.

The beauty is nothing to fear

so powerful and majestic

It demands respect

It has its way with the wind

Blowing and twisting all in its path

The storm comes on heavy and strong

powerful and beautiful.

Watch the lightening flash

The thunder crashes in the sky.

I love the majestic power in the air

As the world around me is cleaned and freshened with the water.

Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?  I once had a teacher that posed the question, What is beauty?  The discussion eventually led to the question, Does beauty exist?  His argument was that  if beauty is really in the eye of the beholder, then it doesn’t have a definition and without a definition, it could not exist….there will be no surprise here to find out that not only was he a Literature teacher but also had a genius IQ.  Although I think he only played devil’s advocate in our many round table discussions in class, it does pose an interesting question.

What is beauty?  Just because something or someone is beautiful to me, doesn’t mean it will be to the person standing right next to me at the same moment.  I personally love scenes in nature.  For me finding beauty in nature brings a type of inner peace.  I also have a lot of friends that would rather never go where there isn’t a paved path, for them there are other things that bring that same inner peace. 

I think that true beauty lies on the inside, even when you see something beautiful it brings a certain feeling of awe and wonder that leaves you knowing that it is beautiful.  Of course a lot of people claim to believe that the beauty of people lies on the inside, but until recently there wasn’t anything in pop culture that preached this concept to the younger generation.  I am thankful that there is now a TV show out called “True Beauty.”  This is a show with hidden challenges to measure the good qualities or inner beauty of the contestants on the show.  The only thing that I don’t like about the show is that they do also consider outer beauty…how would the results be changed if they were only looking at the hidden cameras to see how people act towards one another and how they act in the situations they are put in?  They have already decided that the people there have outer beauty qualities, so why continue to judge that?  I think it would be interesting for them to only judge the inner beauty qualities; but again, what is true beauty?

There are qualities of beauty that I think most people can agree on, but I do not believe that beauty can ever have a true definition.  If beauty was scientific, it would lose the emotions and feelings attached to it, it would instead rely on logic and reason.  To me the loss of the emotion I feel when I see something truly beautiful would be a tragedy.  If it’s a person, a waterfall, a painting, or a music composition, I am glad that my heart is open to the emotion of beauty these things hold.  All of these things have stirred that feeling of awe and wonder of beauty inside of me at one time or another; that feeling that makes you wonder how it’s even possible that something like that could exist.  I hope that everyone is blessed with this feeling of beauty in their life.