Beauty Is In The Eye of the Beholder.....

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

~Margaret Wolfe Hamilton Hungerford~

One of my Beautiful Life goals is, "...refraining from ordinary business as usual to enjoy little moments of beauty..." I readily admit that five days of being sick is not exactly the way in which I meant to refrain from ordinary business as usual, but, it was not without its beautiful moments.

Tender concern from my family and friends made me feel beautifully cared for. The arrival of a special package from a blog friend on an emotionally rocky day was the highlight of my week! It's beautiful message touched the deep places of my soul and renewed my hope. Being able to share A Woman Inspired with a couple of dear ladies made me feel beautifully useful even from my sick bed. Their excitement is contagious! It's not too late to be beautifully inspired by the line up of speakers for this event.Most of the week here it rained and stormed but today the skies cleared, the sun came out, and the woods surrounding Quill Cottage burst to life with more signs of sweet spring. Lot's of sweet moments to savor here this week. Does anyone know what this pretty pink woody stemmed plant is?

This afternoon I felt well enough to totter out to the edge of the woods to the nearest wild dogwood and get at least one good look at it in all its glory before the blooms fade. I stood under that tree reveling in the sunshine and remembering a beautiful old legend, perfect for remembering with Easter drawing near...

THE LEGEND OF THE DOGWOOD

An old and beautiful legend has it that, at the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree and other monarchs of the forest. Because of its firmness and strength it was selected as the timber for the cross, but to be put to such cruel use it greatly distressed the tree. Sensing this, the crucified Jesus in his gentle pity for the sorrow and suffering of all said to it: "Because of your sorrow and pity for My sufferings, never again will the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a gibbet (cross). Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross -- two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints -- brown with rust and stained with red -- and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see this will remember."

On the way back to the house I plucked a handful of these...I buried my nose in their sweet heady scent deeply inhaling the smell of spring. I placed them in one of my damaged diva's (head vases), and now she sports a pretty purple posy chapeau! Any given week might not look exactly like what we expected, but if we look hard enough at what we have been handed, we are sure to behold some sort of beauty. To some eyes my week might not have been so great filled with sickness, emotional upheaval, and damp depressing weather. I made the choice to behold the beauty of the smallest of blessings and it brightened my vision for what is to come, little touches from heaven that remind me that sorrow, sickness, pity, and suffering are a part of my world, but, there is always the brightness of tomorrow to look forward to.

To see how others found beauty in their week pop over to visit Melissa of The Inspired Room. Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy