Let's Stay Awake to Beauty in 2024!

Here’s a story from John O’Donohue to help us stay awake to beauty this year:

“There is a kindness in beauty which can inform and bless a lesser force adjacent to it. It has been shown, for instance, that when there are two harps tuned to the same frequency in a room, one a large harp and the other a smaller, if a chord is struck in the bigger harp it fills and infuses the little harp with the grandeur and beauty of its resonance and brings it into tuneful harmony. Then, the little harp sounds out its own tune in its own voice. …In its graciousness, beauty often touches our hearts with grandeur and nobility of its larger resonance. In our daily lives such resonance usually eludes us. We can only awaken to it when beauty visits us.”*

Sometimes, we’re the “large harp,” expressing beauty for others to enjoy. When we find ourselves in that role – as creators and curators, for example – let’s “stay in tune” with “strike chords” that are truly good, upright, and whole (i.e., beautiful). We can also be beauty-expressing “large harps” in the ways that we relate to people, drive our cars, prepare food, clothe ourselves, take care of our lawns and more in ways that are truly good, upright, and whole.

Other times, we’re the “small harp,” enjoying and resonating the beauty’chords others have expressed/struck. When we find ourselves in that role – as those admiring a new art installation or design space, for example – let’s stay in the moment and express our joy in ways that are truly good, upright, and whole (i.e., beautiful). We can also be beauty-enjoying “small harps” when we celebrate a relational kindness, marvel at a sunset, savor the taste and texture of food in our mouths, and appreciate good craftsmanship whenever and wherever we find it in ways that are truly good, upright, and whole.

Either way, whether we’re expressing or enjoying as “large harps” or “small harps,” let’s stay awake to beauty in 2024!

*John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, page 58.