Tuesday, April 24, 2012

MY MOST BEAUTIFUL THING

My most beautiful thing is life - and for the record, I don't always remember or realize that life is my most beautiful, most precious, most valuable thing. But when Fiona first mentioned this idea and I started trying to come up with one thing, one most beautiful thing, I couldn't do it.

Like most people, I thought about my family - my husband who I adore. Our two daughters who we both love to distraction. All three are most beautiful things - as are our grandsons. But is one more beautiful than another? I don't think so ... maybe at a given time, or in a certain picture ... but in actuality? No way.

Places where I've visited or lived - many of them are truly gorgeous and will always be remembered as such. Paris, New York, Rome - those are the obvious cities that sit in my mind wreathed in beauty but I lived near the Thousand Islands for awhile and cannot forget that magical place, nor St.John's, Newfoundland, or Scarborough Bluffs where I grew up ... but my most beautiful? I don't think so.

What about flowers? I love flowers and am always photographing them ... could I decide one is the most beautiful of them all?

I am sure many are suffering this same dilemma.

For me, it's come down to this ... I will select a photo that represents something I find beautiful always - childhood innocence - captured in this extreme close-up of a baby's face. That's for today. Tonight I might select something altogether different. Tomorrow, something else again.

The value in this exercise for me is much like writing a small stone - it's making me stop and pay attention. I'm looking at things with new eyes and that's never a bad thing. I found it interesting how seriously I took an assignment to find my most beautiful thing, that I couldn't in good conscience do it!

7 comments:

  1. Oh, Sharon... I couldn't agree more. The baby is adorable, even looks like he's praying.

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  2. Love the chubby cheeks : ) lovely post.

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  3. That's a lovely idea, choosing a symbol for a greater whole.
    It would be an interesting conversation among us to see how each person approached this and the seriousness with which we each thought about it.

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  4. Oh, man. Is there anything more important on the face of the earth than those eyelashes? I do not think so. Beautiful, Sharon.

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  5. smiles...that is def a thing of beauty...and pales in comparison to places, or flowers....too bad we can not cling to that innocence...on my way over to check out your interview...

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  6. Thanks to all of you for coming and sharing my representation of beautiful things ... glad you got and appreciated the concept ... it's been a fascinating exercise, yes?

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