Tag Archives: beauty in a broken world

Day 15: Beauty in a broken world

Posted on by
2

Optimism keeps me going. I’m able to get out the door and go for a walk on a favorite trail in part because I know I should go for a walk. But mainly, I go because I hope to see beautiful sights and hope to fuel my mental and physical health by spending time outside. Being outside on beautiful days, especially during this pandemic, has been the best sort of balm for me.

A favorite path with a broken tree

Optimism and faith let me walk under that broken tree ahead, too. It’s a still day. The tree is resting on a healthy tree across the path. There’s only the very slightest chance the tree will fall in the precise moment I’m walking under it. So I continue on, thinking of both brokenness and beauty as I walk along a favorite trail.

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.

Day 14: Beauty in a broken world

Posted on by
2

Nature has offered so many of us solace and sanity this past year. Mountain trails and vistas have been my constant companions since last March, but as much of a mountain girl as I am, I miss the sea. I long to hear waves crashing against the shore. I want the bury my toes in sand and wade in salt water.

Kauai, where I hope to visit again someday

I miss travel in general, and find myself dreaming of places I’ll go when I can again get on the road or on a plane. Hawaii is one of those places, and I enjoyed looking through photos of my last trip there (in 2017, which feels like a complete lifetime ago) to pick out today’s photo to share with you.

If, like me, you’re missing travel, I encourage you to take some time to look through photos of a past trip. Maybe doing so will offer a brief respite from the realities of the pandemic, and perhaps it will nurture hope in you of better days ahead. Where do you most look forward to traveling post-pandemic?

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.

Day 13: Beauty in a broken world

Posted on by
Reply

Mountain trees, buffeted by fierce winter winds, often grow in peculiar ways. Looking at the direction their limbs grow, you can tell the wind tends to focus in one direction.To survive, the tree must adapt.

This tall pine, with limbs fuller on one side, basks in the light of the setting sun.

A young arborist who likes to camp near my “neck of the woods” talked excitedly about this phenomena when he found out where I live. “I’ve never before seen a place where the trees do that.” He grew up in a land of pines, too, but pines more likely to encounter a hurricane’s circular winds than the harsh winter winds that blow from the northwest.

I hope you’ll take a moment today to notice the trees around you. Do they grow lopsided to survive a singular wind? Or are they full all the around their trunks?

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.

Day 12: Beauty in a broken world

Posted on by
3

Lady ducks may not have the same brilliant coloring as their male counterparts, but this one looks particularly lovely with her patch of blue on her wing and her orange beak. You may see some of her male counterparts in the coming weeks here, but I wanted to show her off first.

A female duck, keeping an eye on me in case I’ve brought food

She and her friends came out of the water within a few minutes of my arrival, hoping I’d have food for them. I know they get fed—probably too often—but they were disappointed I had only my camera in hand. Did you know bread isn’t great for ducks? Here are some better choices.

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.

Day 11: Beauty in a broken world

Posted on by
2

Knowing that getting up early has its rewards and acting on that knowledge are two entirely different things. Yesterday was a glorious day, full of the promise of spring coming to the mountains, and I got out before dawn to visit one of my favorite places. As the sun peeked up over the distant mountains, I kept turning to look at the windows of an old carriage house.

A window reflects tree branches as the sun rises and casts its golden light.

The morning was quiet and calm, and the golden hour found me exactly where I needed to be. I’m more of a night owl, and so I’m rarely out and about before sunrise, but this quiet moment felt like a truly special treat.

Join me in the hunt for beauty?
Where do you see beauty in a broken world? Want to add your own images during the 31-day journey? If so, feel free to comment below with your Instagram handle, and tag your Insta posts with #beautyinabrokenworld. You’ll find me there @pixofhope.