For the Beauty

Uncategorized 2 Minutes

Dear Readers,

I took Collette’s advice and bought “The Book of Joy”, by the Dalai Lama, and Desmond Tutu. Even reading just a few pages or a chapter each morning lifts my spirits, and sets up my day.

November nature photos can be harder to take when the skies are so grey. The low level light makes everything look so flat. So it takes some extra effort on my part to keep looking for the beauty that surronds me. It’s there. It’s up to me to see it.

As I am taking care of my 95 year old mother at my house, before she goes into an assisited living apartment, I wondered why we often, as a society, see older people as not beautiful, and dimiss them.

I am seeing beauty in my mother. She has a fighting spirit in her that is strong and funny. Her body, although it is limiting her in her walking, carries a life time of hard work, music, (she was a concert violinist), raising three children, and taking care of her husband who had Parkinson’s at home unitl his death.

We also tend to not see the beauty in ourselves, often harshly judging our bodies. We have been conditioned by many factors, to judge our physical selves against others. When I was in my 20’s, I used to scream at myself, and even hit myself when I gained a lot of weight. I hug that Wendy now. I now have bags under my eyes, and wrinkles, but what they show me is life. I have lived 67 years. I will put on a cute outfit and dance to that life.

It is so important see the inside beauty of oursleves, and others. Look at your spirit. Admire all the hard work you have done just to get to the point of where you are. Look at where you have brought joy to someome, or have been kind. These are beautiful things!

Lately this Methodist version of an old hymn has been going through my head, as we go on our walks. I remember singing in my hometown church. It was alwys one of my favorites.

For the Beauty of the Earth

My Mother

For the beauty of the earth, 
for the glory of the skies, 
for the love which from our birth 
over and around us lies; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our hymn of grateful praise. 

For the beauty of each hour 
of the day and of the night, 
hill and vale, and tree and flower, 
sun and moon, and stars of light; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our hymn of grateful praise. 

For the joy of ear and eye, 
for the heart and mind’s delight, 
for the mystic harmony, 
linking sense to sound and sight; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love, 
brother, sister, parent, child, 
friends on earth and friends above, 
for all gentle thoughts and mild; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our hymn of grateful praise. 

Text: Folliot S. Pierpoint 
Music: Conrad Kocher; Arr. by W.H. Monk 

With my favorite guy,

Who thinks I’m beautiful in old pajamas,

On Day 2266,

Wendy

Published by Untipsyteacher

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22 thoughts on “For the Beauty”

  2. So beautiful! Agreed, our American culture especially is awful at valuing older people. :-/ About photos – do you shoot sunsets? I have seen some amazing ones here in the past week or so, just a few minutes right about 4:45 when the sky goes all shades of pink. We were sledding in the park last week and it was fascinating how quickly the colors moved around the sky. P.s. I can’t believe you are my mother’s age, you look radiant!

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  3. Wendy, this is so beautiful, so endearing and so inspiring. I’m am glad to know you through your writing. I truly needed to read this piece of serenity! Thank you.💜🌸

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  4. Those photos are stunning, as are you and your mum (and yes, ok, Mr UT too 😂). Thanks for the reminder today. We all need to recognise beauty in ourselves, in others and in the world around us. Loved this post Wendy. 💕💕

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  5. Beautiful thoughts and photos, Wendy! You remind me of everything I have to be grateful for during this strange upcoming holiday season, including the many layers of me. I love the image of hugging and comforting our younger selves. We’ve earned every laugh line and wrinkle, and I will be dancing right next to you in spirit to celebrate the gift my life! All the best to you & your family!

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  7. ❤ What a beautiful post Wendy. You, your mom and Mr. UT and those pictures, are all so beautiful 🙂 I grew up in Vietnam, and elderly people are revered there, and treated with kindness and respect. We've lost touch with that in the West it seems like. It's so great you're spending time with your awesome badass mom ❤ xxxx Anne

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  8. Thank you for bringing this hymn to my mind — brings tears to my eyes and reminds me of my own mom (who died almost 15 years ago) as she loved her church and she loved to sing. The preciousness of our steps in this lifetime on beautiful planet Earth.

    Yesterday I listened to a song that took me back to the late 90s and my friends and situation back then, and I miss that time, and I could feel very clearly how time slips through our fingers. That’s its job. And brought myself to the present day and could sense from here how this time also slips by, as though it’s still its job 🙂 For the beauty of the earth and the eyes of everyone around me, including sober/cyberfriends….

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  9. This is beautiful Wendy! Beautifully written, beautiful thoughts, beautiful people and beautiful pictures! We had a neighbor that was 86 and his wife passed away and he was just sad and lost. He had two sons that didn’t visit much. I ended up helping him out a lot, cooking for him and spending time with him. He loved when my girls would come over too! I really think the elderly are beautiful and have so much history to offer if we just take the time to listen. When he passed away ( I had helped him for about 5 years ) his son showed up at my door with some pictures he had of me and the girls to return to me. He then said “I think you knew my father better than I did.” I could tell he was regretful for not visiting much. I’m happy you are enjoying this time with your mom. ❤️

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