Find the Beautiful

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many people think that if their life is bad, moving will solve everything. All at once, they can, and will be, a new person. The truth of that belief only carries so far though. If we wish to change, we must do it consciously. We can all change. We just can't expect it to happen overnight, in one moment. For most of us, it takes time. Little moments, determination, and perseverance must be our allies for a while, if not forever. If we wish for beauty, we must decide to see beauty first. It does not just pop up once we go somewhere else, but if we bring the beauty we wish to see with us, like Emerson said, then we will see it. Otherwise, our eyes will still see the same blandness we see everywhere. Anyone can look at the same plot of land, "beautiful" or not, and see two completely different pictures. One glorious, and the other dull. We make life beautiful. -- Kenzie
 

These words hold a great deal of meaning for me. They mean that those who lead finicky, discontented lives can search every corner of the globe for beauty, but they will always find something to complain about. They will never find a painting whose colors are vibrant enough, or a book that was plotted to suit them. They will never find the landscape that satisfies their high expectations. Vice versa, those who go out of their way to create beauty may never leave the villages of their births, and yet see it all around them. They will will always find something to appreciate and admire, and they will go out of their way to show others the enchantment in life. When we enter the world with the idea that beauty is all around us, if only we look for it, we will find it in the most commonplace, routine happenings. --Emily

Rose in the gloom

The Problem of Life

There are so many possibilities in life, in attainment and achievement, and so many opportunities of doing good, that it is a glorious thing to live. Surely, then, we ought to make the most of our life. The ideal life is one of joy. The face ought to be shining--shining even in darkness. People say this is a sad world, yes, for those who have eyes only for shadows. He who has songs in his heart hears songs wherever he goes.

-- Dr. J. R. Miller

One Single Rose by MALIZ ONG

This quote has made my eyes look for the light more than once in my young life. Sometimes shadows can be overwhelming, but just knowing that there is light brings back my desire for it. When our world grows shadows, stretching vast distances, we need something to pull us through. A rose, a friend, or even a song, as Miller says.  Yes, our world is sad, dark, and dreary. But our world is also beautiful, unique, and filled with wonders. Imagine going to the redwoods and only looking at the shadows, seemingly the largest thing you've ever beheld. But when you look up, there stands the great tree, breathtakingly beautiful and majestic, much more powerful than the shadow it casts. We can not live a life hiding in the shadows. We must look up, and see the greatness of life.

Life is Simple

"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." - Winston Churchill

Simple Sunset by MALIZ ONG

These words contain tremendous insight. In our sophistication, we humans like to make everything complicated. But as these words remind us, the simple things are beautiful, and the most essential, simple. In the end, everything comes down to a few concepts that are not as difficult as we make them-- right and wrong, truth, and choices.

Be Valiant

"Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once." - Shakespeare 

It's hard to say anything profound about something that already is. I love the word choice that makes the quote three dimensional. It excites my senses and brain, trying to understand what exactly he is saying. I think I get it, but there's a part of me that thinks I'm still missing something. Perhaps the rest will come with age.
-- Kenzie

Shakespeare said this so eloquently. Hiding from life, shunning opportunity in the name of caution, giving way to fear-- these are the ways of the coward. Such a life is not really a life at all. It is a worse death than that of a hero, the death that comes because  you were valiant. These are words of warning. Don't give way to fear. Live fully, defy gravity. Be valiant. -- Emily

Dare Mighty Things

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” 
 – Theodore Roosevelt
 

The Alamo by Robert Piemme

Recently I visited The Alamo. The effect it had on me was to evaluate my own life. Hundreds of people died that day, few survived, and fewer names are remembered. Every breath I breathe is adding to my life, every person I meet, place I go, thing I do, adds to my identity. I am creating History every second, but the real struggle is deciding what history is worth creating, and if anyone will remember it.