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Beauty in 3 Unlikely Places

I know I’ve said it before, but one of the small downsides of being an American (maybe even being from the West), is that we love our dichotomies. Something is this or that. Yet when we step back and reflect, we know this way of viewing the world is too simplistic and tricks us out of seeing beyond the narrow categories.

So, in forcing myself to retrain this default thinking tendency I have, notice the beauty in these three unlikely places:

1. Numbers. Alrighty, if you’ve been in the messy middle for a while, you know I love numbers (in particular, pi). Thanks to my friend Gayle, she pointed out the beautiful week we’re living if you write dates this way:

5/11/15
5/12/15
5/13/15
5/14/15
5/15/15
5/16/15
5/17/15
5/18/15
5/19/15

Look at the palindromes embedded in the dates! My sister suggested having dessert, a salad, main course, a salad, and dessert as a way to celebrate and mark the beauty of patterns and numbers. Count me in!

2. Insects. 

Beauty3

3. Words that might not sound similar to you. A few weeks ago in honor of National Poetry Month I taught a lesson to scholars visiting from China. We looked at seven Shel Silverstein poems and had fun with how to say “line” and “lion” once we realized most were saying them “line line.” At the end of the lesson, a student commented she had never thought about having children’s poetry because China just has “poetry.” Regardless of your age, Tang Dynasty Poetry is pretty much the standard. This was the beauty of language and ah-ha. So fun when you don’t see that beauty coming and it pops up.

What beauty have you seen in unlikely places this week? 

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11 Comments May 12, 2015

About Amy

My name is Amy and I live in the messy middle of life. I have been Redeemed from permanent muck and live with the tension of the Already and Not Yet.

Comments

  1. Mike says

    May 12, 2015 at 8:21 am

    Amy, what happened to 5/15/15? :-)

    To see beauty every day, I don’t have to look any further than my wonderful wife!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 12, 2015 at 9:44 am

      Mike!!!! That’s almost humorous, isn’t it?! Thanks friend :). Got it fixed and agreed, you wife is wonderful and beautiful!

      Reply
  2. Carrie says

    May 12, 2015 at 9:56 am

    I am new to your blog, and am so excited to see your love for numbers. The Fibonacci Series/ PHI (the golden ratio) are fascinating. What design and beauty in nature, music, scripture, the human body, art, architecture! The website listed below gives a brief description of PHI. It is essentially a ratio (1.618) derived from a geometric construction.
    http://www.goldennumber.net/what-is-phi/

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 12, 2015 at 2:50 pm

      Carrie, I love it when fellow number lovers find each other :). Truly, I’m a dabbler. I was a math minor, but my mind just cannot grasp theoretical math. That however, doesn’t get in the way of my being in awe! :)

      Reply
    • David Rupert says

      May 12, 2015 at 8:37 pm

      Amy, one of my favorite posts to write was this one: Beauty Has a Number.
      http://www.redletterbelievers.com/beauty-has-a-number/

      All of creation screams!

      I loved this post and I didnt realize all the numbers of this week. Man. My calendar just got fun !

      Reply
      • Amy says

        May 12, 2015 at 8:44 pm

        I can see why that’s a favorite post! All of creation does indeed scream … or sing :)

        Reply
        • Mark Allman says

          May 13, 2015 at 8:49 am

          Amy
          Did you notice that you had commented on that post David listed back in 2012 with a link back to a 2012 post of your own on pi?

          Reply
          • Amy says

            May 15, 2015 at 5:56 am

            I had noticed! And it made me wonder when I’d met David. I think it was in a December writing group when I was back in Denver for a two month leave and my dad had broken his hip.

  3. Suzanne O. says

    May 12, 2015 at 4:38 pm

    Great column, Amy. Well, except for the wormy things. I’m sorry, I am creeped out by bugs. Back east (N.J.) one day I was walking under a maple tree and one of those yellow caterpillar things landed on me. I’m sure they heard me in the next state (that would be N.Y.). I guess you would call this a phobia, right? Seriously, though, I love tracking with your thinking. It is so not my way ;-) Keep it up!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      May 12, 2015 at 4:40 pm

      I will admit, a bug falling on me would be unpleasant :). Which is putting it mildly!

      Reply
  4. Mark Allman says

    May 13, 2015 at 6:33 am

    I love numbers too and how math is a part of everything even though people do not realize it. I also love math problems that give you clues to use the numbers to figure out answers. Like Carrie I love The Golden Ratio and how it is so tied to nature. I can imagine God thinking “I am going to hide this among numbers for mine to find”. I am sure we will discover something else amazing about numbers in the future. There is so much beauty in numbers. Words too….. I love words too and how words can convey beauty so well.

    Reply

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My name is Amy and I live in the messy middle of life. I have been Redeemed from permanent muck and live with the tension of the Already and Not Yet. Read More…

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