I often jokingly say …
“Beauty is in the eyelids of the beholder.”
There is an element of truth in this. It suggests that the world is sometimes such an ugly, offensive place, we must resort to projecting within our mind’s eye an imagined reality, creating a beauty that’s not really there but meets our craving for visual delight.
I recently spent three weeks in Scandinavia, the fulfillment of a lifelong yearning to see this unique part of the world.
A few of those days were spent in Norway, and I am convinced that it is among the most stunning countries in the world. The photo at the head of this blog is the Geirangerfjord, which is indescribable. The picture above can’t even begin to capture the breathtaking splendor of this phenomenal place.
But beauty takes many different shapes. It’s just as often in the people of a given area, their warmth and generosity. Maybe the ease at which they smile or break into laughter. Smiling and laughter are indeed universal.
When I look back on the past twelve years, I find it almost incomprehensible. Thirty-four countries. I’ve seen so much, learned so much, want to travel and discover so much more. But it’s not all fun and games.
When I was in Africa working for a number of NGOs, we would visit various local organizations which were giving much-needed help to area residents. This is a photo from a visit to an AIDS/HIV orphanage in the Karusandara district of Uganda.
Like the other 120 children there, this little girl was HIV positive. In this region — the poorest, most-backward sub-county in Uganda — that is a death sentence. This lovely, innocent child is probably dead now. She took a special liking to me, was so giggly and full of life at the time, full of the blind optimism of youth.
It’s heartbreaking to think about.
In any case, on my official visits, I was usually asked to sign an organization’s guest book. Just the other day, it came back to me what I used to always write above my signature …
“There is beauty everywhere!”
And it’s true! In the midst of the worst squalor and unconscionable living conditions, immersed in the uncertainty and despair of the most hopeless situations, one can find beauty. It doesn’t require dramatic mountains or towering escarpments. It can be a road through a village, the way the land is cultivated, the geometric steppes which stretch from horizon to horizon, the terracing of hillsides. It can be someone selling vegetables on the side of the road. A man on his daily pilgrimage to the town square. A woman bringing water from a well. Children playing.
You can find beauty wherever you just stop and take the time to look. Maybe tilt your head a bit. Squint. Shift your perspective. Maybe even look at the inside of your eyelids after all.
Or just look inside your own heart. It’s probably right there.
