Lillian Young: How Beauty Presented Itself

One of my most recent encounters with beauty happened when I was driving my friend home after we had spent the day together. It was the 4th of January, a relatively cold day that we spent "adventuring," which we always did together. We were talking about nothing in particular, jumping around from topic to topic like we always did. While I kept my eyes focused on the road, through the windshield of the car, I saw the sky. It and the clouds were brilliant shades of orange and pink, a welcomed change from the gray skies that seemed to follow us all day. The sky passed by us quickly, both overhead and due to the sun fully setting. I remember looking up and thinking about how pretty it was at a passing glance. Even though it was just a mundane day that I got to spend with someone I care about, that sky was special to me. There weren’t any sudden realizations of beauty; I’ve always found nature beautiful in its own right, but it still stuck with me. I only looked at the sky for a couple of seconds, but beauty manifested itself to me through the sky that day.

Comments

  1. Wyatt McDanielJanuary 11, 2024 at 10:59 AM

    I really like the part where you said that you didn't have the realization of beauty during the moment. Your mind entered the world of beauty, where nothing but it is welcome, not even realization. Nature is a beautiful thing, and I can relate to how you feel about it. There are moments where I can be outside anywhere, and be infinitely grateful of the gift of nature that has been given to us. Even if you didn't know it at the moment, the experience stuck with you without invitation: a beautiful surprise.

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