60 Days of Beauty: Day 3: A picture's worth...

60 Days of Beauty: Day 2: Sanctuary

I'd be lying (I mean really, really lying) if I said I'm not a messy person.  There's usually a labyrinth of clothes on my bedroom floor, old National Geographics strewn across every surface and I don't even want to know what's under my bed... And typically, I'm okay with that.  If I don't want to tidy up and there's no real reason to, I'm just as well leaving sleeping sweaters where they lie.  But, occasionally I will be struck with the inspiration to clean, and I try to take advantage of such rare and fleeting impulses while they last.
I had such an inkling the other day, so I started the long, arduous process of bedroom archeology.  Now, my room isn't spick and span quite yet, but most of the clothes are now picked up and the desk that was once crammed into my walk-in closet is now set free and already littered in Nat Geos next to my bed.  What I love about it, though, (and here's my point) is that my closet is now a clean, quiet little cave that I can hide away in at anytime.  It is the perfect little sanctuary to think, write, sing or pray.
I think it is so important to have some sort of consistent sanctuary in your life--somewhere to get away and escape the messiness and just be still. Somewhere far from the world and judgmental eyes.  Now this can be a location, an activity or a state of mind, but it is all about just learning how to slow down, breathe and pray.
And that is beautiful.

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
Matthew 6:6 KJV

60 Days of Beauty: Day 1: Warmth

Bloomington is currently sleeping under a blanket of snow.  This means insulated boots, snowball fights, (snowball shaped welts) and lots of general mirth and merriment.  Yesterday, my friend had a birthday hike out at Griffy Lake where an eclectic troop of college kids traipsed through the snowy woods in search of the elusive pavilion that promised a well-deserved break--complete with cake balls, hot tea and cucumber sandwiches.  We finally made it to our destination and were very thankful for the tasty vittles, but when all was said an done, we were all still pretty glad to be headed back to the cars and out of the bitter cold.  Several people didn't have gloves or hats and most had less than adequate footwear.  Perhaps it was my imagination, but I swear I heard murmurs of frostbite as we re-entered the parking lot after the hike.  In long and short, it was cold; we were cold.
After everyone had the chance to go home and thaw out, a lot of the group made their way through the snow over to the Hinkle Place (my apartment) for some good old study and conversation.  As the couches and living room floor filled with people, the apartment filled with warmth.  The cold seemed to melt away due to the glow of joy radiating from a bubbling melody of laughter, Nat King Cole Christmas and the steady beat of fingers tap tap tapping on the keys of overly-priced laptops.
Isn't it beautiful when a whole room can be filled with such different kinds of people, but the mere fact that they are all human connects them and makes something special?  There is such an energy created just by being around other people and accepting and loving them for their differences; it quite literally can warm you from the inside out.
And, that is something beautiful.

"The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.”
-Oscar Wilde

60 Days of Beauty: Intro

There is a group of people associated with my old church (Nappanee Missionary Church) that is doing something called the "60 Days of Beauty Project."  They will be posting daily about something beautiful that they witnessed from the day before.  There seems to be so much negativity around us everyday, doesn't there?  So, why not choose to focus on the beautiful things we see? 
I've decided to join in on this project too.  Granted, I am bound to miss some days, but I'm really going to try to stick to it.
For the next 60 days, feel free to join me, or just stop in every once in a while to get a glimpse of what I'm seeing.  Deep breath, and go.

You have an Eagle personality.

I was rifling through some old stuff on my computer and found this quiz result I had saved.  Must have struck a chord:

You have an Eagle personality. These Birds of Prey are some of the wildest of nature's beings. Though they can be tamed they always retain some of their wild spirit. Most see the Eagle as a wandering spirit but it only seems that way to the untrained eye. In actuality you as an Eagle personality have issues being tied down in relationships and in places sometimes not because you want to be elsewhere just that you want the freedom to be elsewhere if you choose. You aren't the most trusting individual but you are the most well known. Eagle personalities are few and far between but they tend to stand out in a crowd as if they don't belong with them, mainly because they are fairly solitary: they might be the artist who sits in the corner and doesn't communicate, they might be the popular person who has lots of acquaintances but very few actual friends. Being an Eagle means you have an inner core of strength which you unfortunately have to use quite frequently since you are uncomfortable leaning on others and have difficulties sharing your personal and innermost thoughts. Eagles get along great with foxes and bears but should try to stay away from a wolf or horse personality.

Less-Wild Lovers: Standing at the Crossroads of Desire-By Brent Cutis

Copyright © 1997 Mars Hill Review 8 (Summer 1997): 9-23.

In all of our hearts lies a longing for a Sacred Romance. It will not go away in spite of our efforts over the years to anesthetize or ignore its song, or attach it to a single person or endeavor. It is a Romance couched in mystery and set deeply within us. It cannot be categorized into propositional truths or fully known any more than studying the anatomy of a corpse would help us know the person who once inhabited it.
Philosophers call this Romance, this heart yearning set within us, the longing for transcendence—the desire to be part of something out of the ordinary that is good. Transcendence is what we experience in a small but powerful way when our city’s football team wins the big game against tremendous odds. The deepest part of our heart longs to be bound together in some heroic purpose with others of like mind and spirit.
Art, literature, and music have all portrayed and explored the Romance, or its loss, in myriad scenes, images, sounds, and characters that nonetheless speak to us out of the same story. The universality of the story is the reason Shakespeare’s plays, even though they speak to us from a pastoral setting in England across four hundred years of time, speak so eloquently and faithfully that they are still performed on stages from Tokyo to New York City.
Someone or something has romanced us from the beginning with creekside singers and pastel sunsets, with the austere majesty of snowcapped mountains and the poignant flames of autumn colors telling us of something—or someone—leaving, with a promise to return. These things can, in an unguarded moment, bring us to our knees with longing for this something or someone who is lost; someone or something only our heart recognizes. It is as if someone has left us with a haunting in our inner-heart stories that will not go away; nor will it allow itself to be captured and ordered. The Romance comes and goes as it wills. And so we are haunted by it.
If this poignant longing were the only deep experience of our soul, then we should not lose heart. Though we may not have satisfaction yet, we would search for it all our lives. There are enough hints and clues and "tantalizing glimpses" to keep us searching, our heart ever open and alive to the quest. But there is another message that comes to all of us in varying shades and intensities, even in our early years. It often seems to come out of nowhere and for no discernible reason that we can fathom. It is dark, powerful, and full of dread. I think of it as the Message of the Arrows.
There are only two things that pierce the human heart, wrote Simone Weil. One is beauty. The other is affliction. And while we wish there were only beauty in the world, each of us has known enough pain to raise serious doubts about the universe we live in. From very early in life we know another message, warning us that the Romance has an enemy.
The psalmist speaks of this enemy and tells us we need not fear it:

He [God] will save you from the fowler’s snare
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day. (Psalm 91:3-5)

Yet we cannot deny that the Arrows have struck us all, sometimes arriving in a hail of projectiles that blocked out the sun, and other times descending in more subtle flight that only let us know we were wounded years later, when the wound festered and broke.

Such a freakin cutie.

VIDEO PROFILE: BD athlete Adam Ondra on first ascent of L‘étrange Ivresse des Lenteurs (9a+), Ceüse, France from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.