Many Paths Cross

For months now, I've been thinking about the topic of finding beauty in life in as many places as possible.  Finding beauty is what motivates me every day, so perhaps the quest for beauty motivates others as well.  Once I started to think about it, I discovered that I do this constantly.  Not so much surface beauty, though a lot is visual since we humans depend heavily on the sense of vision.  But also personal beauty--kindness, compassion, companionship, rational discussion, shared projects, love for children, adventure, and discovery.  My three deepest passions are: music, the environment, and children.

Sharing beauty is why I enjoy music, friends, family, travel, eating, gardening, cycling, running, sailing, birdwatching and everything I choose to do!

Of course, music, my profession, can't be shown in images on a computer. I may figure out how to share some of my favorite music when I'm more familiar with this blogging tool.

And love is also not so easy to show in this medium, but I will try, if not in images, in words. In the meantime, as a modest start, I would like to share some images from my life that I find beautiful:

 Celestial sculpture from Luna Sea in Pescadero, an anniversary present to each other

Salad made for a dinner party with our closest friends, and almost entirely from our garden

Exotic butterfly, exhibited at the Museum of Natural History in New York

Sunflowers growing in our back garden last summer 

And today, reading a Mother Earth News blog, I found this: "An absence of beauty often indicates an absence of health. What if we set a new standard in which every human, rich or poor, has access to beauty and to the restorative qualities ...?"

I think I understand why I feel compelled to find beauty.  Maybe it's a path toward more fairness, richness, happiness, and health in the world for more people than just me.  I hope so.  Please join me on this journey and let's share the beauty we encounter.