On Beauty and Shelter

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in, where nature may
heal and give strength to body and soul.”

-John Muir-

 The common parts of life contain the elements of beauty that create the shelter we need for life.

When you read articles in shelter magazines you kind of expect to read about the newest, most trend setting items that you might need to create the perfect house. What is true, however, is that rooms that are deemed trendy seldom offer shelter, bread, solace, or nurture.

Trend watching has its place. Watching trends can tell us where interior design is going and what we might value as a society. However, a trendy sofa a home does not make.

Beauty can be the ingredient necessary to our daily lives. Home is where you find it. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you eat and sleep in anyone else’s idea of what is right. Home should nurture, cosset, protect, and reflect who you are as a person or as a family. How we individually see beauty is not necessarily the way others may see it.

Beauty can be found in the pride one feels when she cooks for her family. It can be seen in the love another feels as he keeps his yard clean and car safe. Beauty can be seen in a reflection and sparkle from a rain drop as equally as from a crystal vase.

When you search for that thing that might make your house into your home, consider that beauty isn’t in the amount spent on, or the approval or satisfaction of, owning the new thing. Beauty is the soulful ingredient that feeds, houses, and nurtures us daily.

 I challenge you; when you shop, be mindful of the ingredients of beauty you choose.
Will your purchases satisfy a craving for ‘the new’ or will they feed our basic need for true beauty.

 We need beauty to feed our souls. We need that beauty to buoy us. We need beauty to move us toward rest and solace, but mostly to move us toward home.