Beauty-full

Beauty.
  

What is beauty?

Beauty is, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder--but it's so much more than that. I am always seeing the beauty in everything I see, whether it be something really beautiful or something that most people don't even notice. And it's the noticing that we need to do more of. Nature is the most awe inspiring motivation for me. Since I was little, my walks down the street were always interrupted by the beauty of a flower, a caterpillar hidden behind a leaf, the way a weed can grow in the tiniest crack in the cement, or the big solid feeling a tree gives below it's burly branches. Still to this day, I notice these little things and I notice the absolute beauty that surrounds me where I live. 

I even find beauty in the marks left in the sand by a scarab. 

 

Yesterday we had torrential rains and thunder all day and all night.

But this morning, the sky seemed more beautiful than ever before. My drive into town was more exceptional today than usual and I had to stop to take pictures so I can share with you all this beauty!

  

Italy has many faults and it can be quite difficult to live here, but it is just so beautiful....

...these views quickly wash away my frustrations and calm my soul.

Which reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
-Pablo Picasso

And art is but the expression of beauty.

So take a little time to notice the beauty where you live.
It may just soothe your soul.