Monday 13 April. Every time I look at my calendar at the moment, I do a double-take. It’s not because of everything that was written on there that should’ve been crossed off over nearly three weeks ago when lockdown was announced. It’s not even because it looks like we have a blank slate (although, in reality, we pretty much do!). It’s because of the image that comes with the month of April:
I don’t think the creator of this particular calendar (a Whitcoulls one that a friend helped me to pick) had any idea quite how relevant their artwork would be to the month of April 2020, worldwide!
How does simplicity look to me, at the moment? Well, in all honesty, there are things that haven’t been so simple. Like hubby working from home and the constant dance of navigating children, housework and family life in a very different way to ever before. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge blessing to have him around, and for our family to be together 24-7, but it has also been an adjustment. For him and for each of us.
But there are things that truly have been simple. And have beckoned in beauty. The slower pace of life. Staying in PJs for far longer than needed. Sleep-ins. Tuning in to music online. The ability to savour moments without rushing from one place to the next. The car sitting, unused, in the driveway. The time just to be. The chance to plod away at housework at a pace that suits me (did I really just say that?!). The birdsong around us. The chance to read a good book (even if I still find that I can’t quite focus for long enough to finish it). The stillness of the air. The ability to bake, with the only time constraint being hungry tummies. The guitars getting pulled out and strummed in our lounge. The shrieks and squeals of children bouncing on the trampoline.
Every so often the sounds of other children in our neighbourhood fill the air. It’s not like the playground sounds of our local school drifting up to us on the hill, though. Those sounds, for the moment, are gone. And life is different.
But there’s still beauty in this simplicity. And for today, I’m thankful for that. (That, and the friend who encouraged me to pick this particular calendar!)
Kristy x
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Soul Grace #12 : beauty - Choosing Thankfulness · May 19, 2020 at 4:43 pm
[…] the choice to see beauty in the everyday (even the mundane), recognise beauty in the chaos and find beauty in simplicity. But today I’m talking about beauty that you see, or experience, that makes you stop and […]