Life is Absolutely Beautiful

Have you ever just stopped to open the window and look out or stopped to enjoy the smells of nature? Have you ever taken time for a bubble bath or taken time to listen to quiet music, just because you feel like it? Have you ever dimmed the lights or closed your eyes and thought? I feel that each day as I grow, learn, mature, and develop, I can recognize the beauty of the world around us. It moves at a fast pace when we are distracted and consumed by the industrialized modern world. It is inaccurate, however, to say the world moves fast, for I can tell you that it does not. Take a day to sit and watch a meadow, field, or animal. Sit outside and feel the breeze and the grass below you. Run freely in an endless meadow. In this sacred place, does time not move at a glacial pace? I have learned over my years to recognize, understand, and enjoy beauty. I find expressive writing, music, and art to be very fulfilling. What do you consider to be beautiful?

I feel unusually expressive today (as you probably can tell)

Life is beautiful.

The girls are beautiful.

Even the orchestra is beautiful....

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It truly is ...

Following BFB's cue:

I am grateful for the opportunities I've had in my life

I am grateful for my crazy family

I am grateful for having the pleasure of calling Bill a friend, as we prepare to toast him a final good-bye tomorrow

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I am grateful that I have a sister who is my best friend, and lives close to me.

I am grateful that my parents are still around (in their 80's) and while they drive me crazy, I realize the value of family because of them.

I am grateful for my other family, those not related, but who are just as important......and especially grateful to have Pennywise and her family in my life.

I am grateful for Steve, even though at times I just want to push him in the pool (he can't swim), I wouldn't be who I am today without him.

I am grateful for all the wonderful memories of friends no longer with us, who helped make me who I am today.

More importantly....I WILL be grateful when a cure for AIDS is found, a Democrat is in the White House, our troops come home, and America is a country that we can be proud of again.

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Updated On: 3/28/08 at 11:37 AM

It's funny that I posted that yesterday and today, I feel very empty. Life can change so quickly! Here are some photos I find beautiful.


I love the wonderful contrast of the delicate flower and strong basket. The textures are wonderful.


I love the way the meadow seems endless.


I love the way the pond seems so private and safe.

"It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in." American Beauty

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and in comes Debbie Downer to ruin yet another thread.

Nygrl, do you ever, EVER have a good day where you don't whine or complain about something?
Sheesh, girl..if you are that miserable start taking drugs.....at least then your threads might be of mild interest.....

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The hostility you inspire absolutely puzzles me , nygrly23.

I took your post to be about living in the moment and savoring all the little life-happenings surrounding you. The stuff you would miss if you were too busy dwelling on the past or projecting into the future.

*****

Close your eyes, take a deep breath.. open your eyes and see the brilliance around you.

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This morning, on my 6am flight from Melbourne to Atlanta, I was on the right side of the plane in a window seat. Right side is the east side on this flight (as intelligent people could have determined), and the sun rises in the east, so I had a perfect view of the most gorgeous sunrise I've ever seen.

There was a rainbow of colors from bottom to top...starting with the deep orange-red on the horizon and drifting upwards into a striking violet-black. I reviewed the ROYGBIV rainbow sequence in my head. They were all there. I first saw the sunrise above some twinkling city lights. We then ascended further so that it was set above a blanket of fluffy white clouds.

I wanted to take a picture...but the window was too dirty. Anyway, I thought of this thread when I saw the sunrise. So gorgeous.

Yes, Ii have been there on a Friday night, nygrl. Actually, I've been living in the w. village for almost 30 years, and I've gotten around. What you've described may be beautiful to you, but at this point in time for me, that's one scenario I like to get away from! It's just a difference of opinion.

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Depends on one's mood, the weather, etc. It's a cross section of other people's lives. It's too much, sometimes. Sometimes, it's cool. Depends. You live in the west village, so you get regular exposure to the constancy of it all. I guess the constancy can be beautiful, in smaller doses.

I was able to see the changes here in the village during the decades I've lived here. Right now, I'm glad that I absolutely love my apartment (another thing which makes life beautiful for me), because I don't like to go out much on the weekends here.


The w. village is a destination for so many people that it's not fun for me. I don't happen to like the screaming, yelling, crowds, cars with their base levels turned up so high that my entire apartment vibrates and other such quality of life issues! I think it's an age thing. The young seem to like all that. I've been there, done that. I'm almost ready for retirement village! (kidding, not quite!)

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I don't mean to jack this thread too much, but hypocrisy is one of my pet peeves:

Elphaba
Broadway Legend
joined: 1/12/04
re: pet peeve
Posted On: 12/26/05 at 11:18 PM


1. People who don't seem to know when it is time to bathe.

2. People with baby strollers who think they have the right of way, SIMPLY BECAUSE they have produced spawn.

3. Smokers (sorry, reformed smoker here, and I really can't stand the smell.......but if I meet any of you who smoke, I won't be a jerk).

4. Rabid Wicked fans.....KIDS, there ARE other musicals, you know!

5. Poor Spelling, and people who do not know the difference between affect and effect, good and well, and they're and their.

6. Parisians

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