Anything, Everything
I love snow. It makes everything wonderful and pretty and glittery. And I haven’t seen it for a few years. This morning, I looked out the window while making a cup of tea and just saw dense snowfall, and it was gorgeous. Even living in such a built up area, it was still beautiful. Just one of the great things about snow; anything can look beautiful.
I think the most beautiful time is during early morning, purely for the colours of the sky. Its a simple pleasure, but not one to be passed by.
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.
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.
I started last year with so many plans. I guess different goals to what I actually ended up doing, but still, last year could have gone a very different way. Concerts, festivals, travelling… basically everything I resolved to do, or usually do anyway, was cancelled. As a frequenter of Download Festival and person who loves to travel, last year sucked a bit on that part. My second missed opportunity to see Iron Maiden, and now I wonder whether its meant to be.
And while so many expect (an expectation fueled by wishful thinking, perhaps) to be in the midst of a moshpit during the summer months of 2021, I kind of trust that they’ll be disappointed. While so many concerts are covid safe, a festival in which communal toilets and general suspension of usual hygiene standards are perhaps a staple of the weekend experience, the pressure to lock onto the virus will inevitably lead to further cancellations. So, what to do?
I dont want to end this year disappointed, as so many have. And, usually, I dont make what might be traditionally termed as resolutions. But I do like goals. I see both sides of the coin. I like doing things there and then, but I also like putting a time stamp on achievements. I like to look back on the year and think of what I did with my 365 days, and last year was no different. There was a tremendous amount I couldn’t do, but in a way, maybe thats why I did the stuff I actually did. So this year, I want to make a point of setting goals I know will be achievable, even during these enduringly uncertain times.
1. Read more – I read a ton, but it could always be a bit more varied. I’ve recently gotten into dystopia fiction, so maybe a wider scope is on the horizon yet.
2. Learn to play guitar – this has been a goal of mine since 14, but there’s always something else to do. But I want to get out of this year with at least one song learned that isn’t Metallica related.
3. Watch more films – I love my movies. Often movie lovers (from my personal experience) have been judged as couch potatoes. But I’m the best at movie quizzes, if I do say so myself.
4. Run 15km – last year I reached 10, and kind of just stuck to 5 after that.
5. Finally achieve side splits – yoga has been a bit intermittent this year. But now I have the space to do it, so no excuses
6. The three peaks challenge – this was last year’s goal, and the one that didn’t come to fruition. Scafell, Snowdon and Ben Nevis. I’ve done the later two at very different times, so I’d like to make all three.
7. Try self publishing – gotta start somewhere right?
8. Paint more for pleasure – last year I took on a lot of commissions. So many that, while I enjoyed painting members of peoples family, it took the creativity out of me a bit.
9. More photography – I got into taking photos last year, specifically of simple pleasures. Flowers, the sky, the butterfly heading this post. I’d love to have canvases of them.
Were going into this year with a bit of an advantage, if that’s the right word. We know to treat it with caution. We know not to make plans, or at least, we know what plans not to make. This year could still pan out in so many ways, good or bad, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t count, right?
1. Going for a walk or a run when the sky is beautiful.
2. Clean sheets and lavender after a long day.
3. Watching a good old movie.
4. Eating something just that little bit indulgent with some mindful music playing.
5. Breaking the monotony at your desk by playing a cheesy classic; my present choice is Celine Dion’s version of I Drove All Night.
6. Eating alone in a cafe or restaurant, not a rush or care in the world.
7. Appreciating the colours of the clouds just as evening is settling in during winter.
8. Going to bed knowing that you did your best, were your healthiest, and now this is your time.
9. Realising you don’t have to be productive all the time to improve yourself and your mood
10. Doing something that typically causes you anxiety, because, at the end of the day, what the hell.
Paint a Mental Picture 