This whole week, I’ve been turning this phrase over in my mind this whole week: “Beauty cleans the mind.”
The wisdom comes from author Matt Haig:
“Wherever you are, at any moment, try and find something beautiful. A face, a line out of a poem, the clouds out of a window, some graffiti, a wind farm. Beauty cleans the mind.”
It felt like an exhale to me. The tension and anxiety thermometer is running high for so many of us right now. Sometimes it’s almost like a buzz in the air that you can sense.
Even if you completely remove current events from the equation, there is so much to distract and get us off track.
I recently got ruthless about the notifications, buzzes, and pings coming from my phone. They had already been at a minimum but even that was too much for my brain and my soul. I set up very tight parameters of what comes through when it’s on “work” or “personal” mode and I’m religious about putting it on “sleep” mode. Every evening, I leave it out of my bedroom when I tuck in for the night.
I’m still working out the kinks because there are some phone calls and texts that I want to see immediately…my husband Bobby has had a heck of a time reaching me by phone lately (sorry, love!). Overall though, it’s a net positive.
Continuing to eliminate random distractions and attention grabs is going to be my drumbeat. As the noise dwindles, the beauty can shine brighter.
Yesterday I was prepping dinner as the boys napped. “Beauty cleans the mind,” popped up for me again. I looked up and the light was piercing through our dirty window, filtering through the leaves of one of our plants. The light highlighted the different shades of green and red, the brown of the leaves that I need to gently peel away. Taking just 10 seconds to focus on that beauty centered me.
Beauty is everywhere. It’s gently reaching out its hand, waiting for us to just look, actually look.
Leah and I have always steered away from creating snarky cards. We don’t really do “trendy” designs or cards that give a nod to the current pop culture hilarity that’s ensuing. Other card companies do that and they do it well! It’s just not us.
We’ve always felt more at home in the sincere. Creating art and cards that try to tap into the beauty around us. We want to highlight the goodness and kindness that is found in nature, gorgeous poetry, heartfelt human connection. A wonderful customer recently described them as “tender and life-affirming” and that feels right to me.
We want each card to feel like a steady hand reaching out when there is turbulence. Or a tight hug that you can send to someone who is trembling. Or a party in an envelope when something SO GOOD has happened and you want to let someone know that you are also jumping up and down in celebration.
We’ve had customers frame our cards or just prop them up on their desk or near the kitchen sink. Many of our cards have phrases that can become a sort of mantra when you reflect on them continually: “You are lovely and loved.” “You have bravery in your bones.” “It’s okay to rest."
When the world around you feels out of control, take a moment to breathe, find a slice of beauty, clean your mind. Maybe find a 10 minute pocket where you can sit with a warm drink and write to someone you love.
We can’t control everything (understatement of the century) but we can take real, tangible steps to be there with our people through our handwritten words, a meal dropped off for a sick friend, gently used mittens and coats donated to bring warmth.
We get to be co-creators in this world and bring beauty to the brokenness.
Grateful to be here with you, searching for the beauty and magnifying it through our attention.
P.S. Curious what beauty has made you pause recently. Let us know in the comments!
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The tulips on my coffee table -a mix yellow peony tulips and red/yellow ones – bringing sunshine into our home in defiance of the gray and rain.
A very short piece I wrote for the Torrey House Press blog, That Thing with Feathers. All authors from the press were asked to write something about how to find hope after recent election results. This is my post, linked below. Trigger warning: politics in general!
https://www.torreyhouse.org/single-post/the-morning-after
Right now, the beauty is the sweet cat Maisie warming my lap, the combination of blue and pink in the dawn sky out my window, and reading an email like this one from Tiny & Snail. Thanks for contributing beauty and thoughtfulness.
The beauty i recently found was collapsing on my back alongside my grandkids bought snow shine. We had one set of snow shoes we alternated using collapsed on the snow, looked up the sky the sun coming through the trees. It was beautiful. I’ll send a picture separately for your enjoyment.
Our young neighbor and her friend climbing the big snow pile in our court left by the snowplow and dancing at the top. Pre-teen joy!