Anything, Everything
Sundays are my ‘in’ days. A bit of laundry, yoga, maybe a bit of Supernatural. On days like these, it’s good to remember that nature is in the home to, in the form of plants or pets.
So this is my baby, Seth. He’s super photogenic.
Second time doing the wrekin this year, and what a difference a week makes. This was covered in snow and frost last Saturday, and now… well. Just as beautiful, though.
I love a good list. And a good book. So when I see a list of books I should apparently read before I die, I have to take a glance. Often just to count of how many I’ve read, and feel a sense of achievement. When I’ve read one on my bucket list poster, I love scratching off of the little square, for that same buzz of productivity.
And yet, often people read these books despite actually hating the experience. Presently, I’m reading Les Miserables, and while I don’t hate it, I’m not personally enjoying the experience. The overly descriptive scenes of settings typical of Hugo’s style, pages and pages spent describing a character of little relevance to the grand scheme of things. At this moment, I’m reading it because I’m in too deep. But I’m not enjoying it.
I didn’t get into my love of reading by the classics route. Instead, it began when I was around 14, with teen fiction. A few vampires, werewolves and a tremendously unrealistic romance, and I was happy. Books such as Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and Nightworld by L G Smith. None of these turn up on the 100 Books You have to Read Before You Die. And yet, I loved them. Most importantly, I’ve probably had more enjoyment out of them, too, than a number of the books on these lists.
I know why so many books are considered with this level of importance. Books such as To Kill a Mockingbird for social issues, War and Peace for there literary influence and educational quality. They’re regular contenders, and for good reason. But I’m a sucker for sappy romances and the cold yet handsome anti hero.
So, read what you like. If you’re like me, and like to tick off the next book you must read, then by all means, its good to have that guide. Sometimes, they even help introduce some new blood into your typical reading trends. But make sure to deviate from that every once in a while with what made you love reading in the first place. If that’s classics then great, but sometimes a melodramatic drama between a gutsy heroine and a troubled supernatural young fellow is what you need. With ice cream, for extra indulgence.
It’s important to remember that, when we are still, nature is always moving in a cycle. What isn’t around today will be around in weeks, months, a different season.
Beauty is the detail. Sometimes it’s personal to you.
Taken during my morning run before work, I think the lady ahead on the ride thought I was strange for stopping to take this.
So today I was getting a bit antsy, for various reasons. And I realised before lunch I hadn’t done this. I went for a walk, and noticed how suddenly my attention was diverted from the annoyances of my morning to looking for something pretty. A nice little mindfuless exercise blossomed. Who knew? I found this very small flower in the midst of some barren branches.
Such a simple, mundane task as doing the laundry. Fortunately, there’s a large bay window in my apartment building’s laundry room, and I saw this patch of sky. I didn’t have to go far at all.
It’s easy to lose love for the place you live in. That’s what holidays are for, afterall. During this time, in which we are once again being told to stay at home, and to only leave for essential trips and exercise, the same four walls, patches of grass and trails within walking distance might wear thin real fast.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Of course, getting away is nice. Just for the change of scenery alone, for a different sunset, different view and different company. But we don’t have to go far to find beauty at all.
Yesterday I hiked up the Wrekin (a local mountain in Shropshire) and was struck by the beauty of the peak in the snow. I fell over, but I didn’t care. The trees were still stunning.
And thats when an idea came to me. I want to make an effort to appreciate the nature close to me, when I can’t go elsewhere. Beauty is closer than we all think. And thats why every day for the next hundred days, I want to go out and find it. Whether it be in a flower, a bird, a tree or the sky. And of course today we appreciate what we see in different ways. I like to look at things without a lens, but I also like to capture the moment.
We may not be able to travel to find a most striking beauty spots. It’s difficult to appreciate something you may have passed by a thousand times. But on the 19th of April I want to have enough photographs to look back on to prove that beauty is everywhere, if you look for it.
Paint a Mental Picture 