[Calliope]: 216.Musings.Beauty in Winter

Driving through the city this time of year, there isn't much beauty around. Muddy snowbanks piled along the roadside, vehicles with their colour so distorted by the mud that it's like a standing, or driving, clay army. The trees are bare of any leaves, the sun reflects of ice and blinds you, buildings have plastic stretched over their windows to help keep in heat. Yet in this monotone world, there is beauty.

That one tree, normally looking so alone but now shimmering with the snow coating it's branches; Those red berries, usually so bright but now absolutely striking against the contrasting white; The stark birdsong that spikes out of the sky in an otherwise muffled atmosphere; The joy that can be found in snowy activies; The simplicity of silence in that one isolated grove surrounded by natures original insulator. Beauty hasn't ran from this black and white realm, instead it's hidden itself. I don't find this discouraging at all, in fact, it's quite the opposite. What's more exhilarating than chancing upon this hidden blessing and recognizing it? Few things that I know of and that's why I'll put up with the mud which is beauty in it's own...odd way.

I guess the main purpose of this is to look beyond first impressions. Just like nature's gorgeous tidbits aren't always apparent, neither are people's. Behind that icy exterior could be a spark for life that normally shines and astonishes. Underneath that apparent sadness could be a soul brimming with generosity. You may be in a rush but life isn't, take the time out to enjoy what you would otherwise miss. Beauty surrounds us everywhere, whether we see it or not. Embrace it and it's sure to enlighten your life, at least a little.

© Angie O'Connor