“Joy is an act of resistance.” –Toi Derricotte
What is bringing you joy? In her newsletter The Good Stuff, Maggie Smith wrote about finding beauty. She called it a “beauty emergency.” An abundance of beauty is available to us everyday if we choose to notice. Even on my sickest days this summer, I could look out my window to find the great white egret who daily feeds across the bayou. Even now I can see a flash of white as he flies by. Sometimes I watch him slowly wade through the water. Something about that presence of purity renews me.
Renewal happens even if we forget to ask for it. God knows how to renew all life.
“To find a new world, maybe you have to have lost one. Maybe you have to be lost. The dance of renewal, the dance that made world, was always danced here at the edge of things, on the brink, on the foggy coast.”
― Ursula K Le Guin
I am still in the process of renewal, walking a fine line between dark and light. I have to find the strength each day to see the light, to look for it, all the while knowing darkness is close by. Illness does that to a person. The fear of it all coming back again is real. I notice the fear, name it for what it truly is, then let it go. I must do this to bring joy to the forefront. And renewal comes as I find beauty in ordinary days.
A colleague complained to me about an incessant vine that climbs her brick walls. “The guy has to come every 3 months to deal with it, even in this drought.” We can complain about the onslaught of weeds in the yard, or we can take pictures of them and find their beauty, their life, the way they insist on being here.
I believe that God gives us access to beauty all the time. We are meant to feel curious, to wonder about ordinary things, to be present and renewed, touched by beauty and joy.
Solidago*
Meadow soul soother
Margaret Simon
I turn toward your day light
Don’t go. Don’t go.
*scientific name for goldenrod, solidus meaning “to make whole”
Reflections on the Teche 
Such a poignant poem for the lone goldenrod, Margaret – the plea for the lingering light and comfort is real. Of all the lines you write so beautifully here, these strike the deepest chord with me: “I believe that God gives us access to beauty all the time. We are meant to feel curious, to wonder about ordinary things, to be present and renewed, touched by beauty and joy.” I know this to be true. It’s why I could spend the better part of the day watching birds through my window; there’s nothing ordinary or random in their actions. Your posts are always renewing and I am grateful for you – and your recent healing.
And I am grateful for you! Thanks for your kind words.
You offer us so much beauty as you wander in your piece, through prose, poetry, photographs. I especially noticed your word-craft with the Solidago title, thank you for the explanation. To think of the much-maligned goldenrod as ‘made whole’ is provocative. And your “dont go, dont go” ending is so poignant as we transition seasons.
Margaret, there is much beauty in ordinary days. So often we miss it because we are looking for something bigger. Your reminder that God gives us access to beauty is a encourages us to look for that beauty every day. It is there. May you continue to heal.
Margaret what a lovely piece of writing. I am hoping it helped you hold on to renewal and healing. It was what I needed today as I struggle to hold on to the positive thinking of renewal as I heal as well from a long term issue. Thanks for giving us this today. I do hope this finds you feeling better.
Love the photos, poem, and deep thoughts. I am living with chronic pain, and like you, I am seeking joyous moments. Thank you so much for this!
Maureen, I love the way you confront feeling and emotion – – to name it, and to acknowledge the fine line between dark and light and the quest to find strength. Grief and loss is a debilitating blow that I don’t think I fully realized at the time I lost my mother. I would say, 100% for sure, that I know her better now than I did while she was here. And that takes on another form of grief all its own, too. Thank you for the beautiful writing and the pictures today.
Margaret, so much beauty here in your post. From the egret and the purity and light, to the darkness, which is also part of our existence. Amen to this: “renewal comes as I find beauty in ordinary days.” That moon in the clouds and the persistent weed coming up through the grass are two good examples of finding beauty. I like what you did with soul-day-go in your Goldenrod poem.
[…] « Slice of Life: Spiritual Journey and a Beauty Emergency […]
Margaret, your slice brought back thoughts I had when in chemo 20 years ago: “walking a fine line between dark and light.” I know this walk and named it on the edge of darkness. It was a slippery walk but the Lord was my guide. I find peace in your words that share insight about your walk: “To find a new world, maybe you have to have lost one. Maybe you have to be lost.” Your journey has found light because you believe that “God knows how to renew all life.” He is renewing yours and giving you the ability to open others’ eyes to “be present and renewed, touched by beauty and joy”. May you continue to heal and bring light to others who are in need.
Carol, I’m sorry you went through chemo. I kept telling myself that “at least you don’t have cancer.” I don’t know how I would have handled that diagnosis. My illness taught me some things that are just beginning to emerge. It is all a spiritual journey, isn’t it?
Margaret, my days with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma were part of my Spiritual Journey. I learned to deal with mixed emotions while holding on to faith and a pathway to hope. I am so grateful for our small community that always bring sunshine and hope into our walk of faith. Have a beautiful fall day.
There’s so much to love in your post. This sentence: “An abundance of beauty is available to us everyday if we choose to notice.” And this line: “And renewal comes as I find beauty in ordinary days.” And this one: “I believe that God gives us access to beauty all the time.”
I’m sorry for your illness and the fear it brought your way. “I notice the fear, name it for what it truly is, then let it go. I must do this to bring joy to the forefront.”
I love your Goldenrod poem and knowing that solidus means “to make whole.”
Thank you for writing.
Thank you for your response. The encouragement of friends is also important to the spiritual journey to healing.
Thank you, Margaret, for sharing your faith and courageous outlook with us. Naming fear and then letting it go is a valuable lesson and reminder. And naming beauty is another one which gives us great joy. I thank you for both, wishing you renewed health and the eyes to find and appreciate all the beauty of your surroundings.
It is also an important step in my grief journey. I hope you are finding beauty emergencies.
Your poem and its repeated plea, “Don’t go!” remind me that we are wired for renewal. The longing, the yearning, must be our internal reaching for God, begging for Beauty to remain in us. Thank you, Margaret, for the reminder to keep looking for it, to keep open to it, to keep welcoming the joy with the hardship.
Thanks, Patricia, for “wired for renewal.” I think that’s what a spiritual practice is all about, to get in touch with that internal wiring.
Thank you for reminding me to seek beauty and to notice it when it appears. God has saturated our world with beauty, but unfortunately the world would rather have us notice the unpretty. It is a conscience choice to seek beauty that once practiced enough becomes second nature. Thank you!
Speaking of joy in the simple beauty before us, I wrote this poem last May and it came back to me when I read this post.
Two Rose of Sharon Trees
I sit and sip the coffee
That singes the very
Tip of my tongue.
Sun just peeping over
The tree line,
Heralds the day.
Chattering birds come and feed
Announcing to each other
There’s breakfast.
Through the steam from my cup
I spy two Rose of Sharon trees,
One purple one white,
A married pair
Standing guard over
The butterfly bush.
These trees are heirloom
Two generations
Rooted from my mother’s
And from my grandmother’s.
I frame this moment
To hold it in memory’s bank
Awestruck so that I can
Retrieve it when I need to
Revel in the joy of
Two Rose of Sharon trees.
Margaret, thank you for sharing your honesty, your beautiful egret, your photos of the beautiful golden rod, purple flower, the full moon, the quotations, and your beautiful poem. In your haiku I especially love the line, meadow soul soother. Finding beauty is always a “soul soother” to me, also. I resonate with many of your words in this post. As I was reading, I realized that your words “walking a fine line between dark and light” is something I have done for much of my life. I also have to look for the light. Finding beauty–a monarch fluttering, birds singing, snowflakes melting in my hand… is what renews me also and brings me joy. Your description of the white egret made me see it, too, which gave me joy. I will pray for you to continue to heal, find renewal, and to feel joy. You have always been a light to me as I am sure you are to your students. I imagine that your students give you light.