Experience Beauty

Last Monday I made some imprudent decisions regarding sleep, and am bearing the consequences of a compromised immune system. Thus, I did not have time to write a blog post (since I was resting instead). But since the purpose of this blog is to discuss literature and other ways of experiencing beauty, I thought I would encourage you to, instead of reading one of my posts, take the time instead to experience beauty today. Go on a walk in nature, taking in the sights and sounds; read some poetry; listen to some beautiful music (Bach, Bomsori Kim, Clamavi de Profundis, and the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, are all wonderful); read a good book like Anne of Green Gables, Watership Down, Winnie the Pooh, The Tale of Despereaux, Grimms’ Fairy Tales, or any fiction by by Tolkien or C. S. Lewis. If you can find some art of any kind to spend time with and appreciate (not on your screen), do that. If we cannot enjoy beauty, we run the risk of turning our lives into a busy machine of useless productivity or letting it sink into a mire of entertainment, noise, and listlessness. Beauty takes us outside of ourselves, and actually helps us to become more ourselves. It expands our limits and desires so that we can become more.