Beautiful Beings Being
Flowing, Finding, Flourishing
This world, beleaguered,
by this here, and yes, that too.
Same world, beauty-full!
Flowing
Natural beauty,
despite and along the rest.
Present, persisting.
Minimalist art,
skies', seas', clouds’ beauty, blue, true.
Sans frills, adornments.
Flowering
Textured sienna,
humble marvels mushrooms are.
Bursting buds beauty.
Woodlands wild wonder,
iris douglasiana.
Praising in purple.
Full bearded iris,
we welcome your loud splendor.
No need to shave it.
Finding
Beauty, brilliance, gems,
often cleverly disguised.
Sometimes we can tell.*
Hidden truths, treasures,
beauty, wisdom within all.
Say smiling sages.
Our light, in our acts,
our beauty, in our kindness.
Say wise wrinkled crones.
Found
Beyond breasts, buff butts,
beneath makeup goop, nips, tucks.
Not bitter, better!
Meet virtue beauty,
gives and takes our breath away.
Offers awe’s chills, tears.
Gasp, sigh, delighted,
astonished by real beauty.
Our faith, hope regained.
Fascinated, we
feel flutters, effervescence.
When witnessing Good.
Flourishing
Mainstream’s “breaking news,”
heart-breaking, hope-squelching doom.
Miss moral beauty.
Witness goodness too.
Wow wild, real, essence beauty,
brings bittersweet tears.
Humans, surprising.
We can act with vile cruelty,
and with fierce kindness.
Oh, how beautiful
plain acts of heroism!
Fine noble valor.
Some dare to risk all
for the sake of another.
Out of pure goodness.
Naked, bare, brave words,
beauty-full full-frontal works.
No lies, lids allowed.
To thank life, less, loss,
aging’s boon, bounty, beauty.
Not for the feeble.
Generous gestures
if small, simple, beautiful.
Still do the honors.
Fellowship
Struggling, together,
how so very difficult.
And just beautiful.
Bridging out of care,
shared ache's echo cuts across.
Burden, beauty. Both.
Grief
Time for hospice care,
weakness, pain, profound sorrow.
Yet, somehow, beauty.
“Things”
The peach bowl, empty,
eager, hungry, grumpy, sad.
Still sits beauty-full.
Old, peeling, rotting,
faded, falling, failing fence.
Ain’t she beautiful?
“Truths”
Beauty, brokenness,
breathe alongside each other.
Both may bear blessings.
This whole while, now, here,
every -thing -being as it is.
Pretty, not, but true.
Postulates
Not everything that seems beautiful is beneficial,
but everything that is beneficial may be pronounced beautiful.
May we enjoy the beautiful.
May we value the beneficial.
In this world, and in this life
there is so, so, so, so much
that is beautiful, good, holy, whole.
May it triumph.
May it trump, transform, transmute
what seems to lack
sufficient
beauty, goodness, holiness, wholeness.
Probes
What if beauty could be found everywhere, in everyone?
Could we find beauty everywhere, in everyone, if we pause long enough to look, listen for it?
Who is the fairest of them all?
Could it be grateful, generous hearts beating synced in virtuous beauty acts?
Can we learn to embody, emit beauty, naturally, intentionally?
How to promote true beauty, to help spread its gorgeous goodness?
Posts
True beauty stars and cameos on the Substack stage, outside of the “fashion & beauty” category. In addition to the many amazing beyond human nature-focused publications celebrating spring’s beauty-filled shows, bows to the following writers, whose recent posts show beauty found in...
Weathered words
(The Heart of the Matter by Amrita Skye Blaine)Worn boots (On Breath and Belonging)
Sagging jowls (Be Where You Are)
Moving driftwood (The Poetic Lens)
Symbolic geodes *inspired by post/song by (A Gathering of Spirits)
Self-kindness
(Poetry is Life)Real luxuries (Singularly Sensitive)
Family love (The Examined Family)
Friendship (Holding Nothing)
Mentorship (Mark Nepo)
Heart to heart embraces (The Corners)
Declarations of conscience
(Building Bridges)Conscious journalism & David Bornstein (On Being)
Not giving up (In the Commons)
Rebelling & Reclaiming (Psyche’s Nest)
Repairing (Terraphilia)
Serendipity
(Hope & Kindness Matters)Possibility (Bri Chapman)
Diversity (Living the Questions)
Human language
(Wordcasts for the Symbiocene)Our voice (Cuoreosity)
Poetry (Poetry Today)
Prayer (Contemplative Witness)
Shh Silence (Silentium)
PS
Masks (beauty hiding)
Artisans (beauty making)
The “and/boths,” “and yets…”
photobomb the ugliest scene.
Make us pause, smile, click.
“Lookie here,” they call,
”Don’t miss the best part,” they claim.
They’re onto something.
What say you, beauty-believing reader?
(“Hearting,” restacking and sharing posts help them reach others)
By human earthlings’
heads hearts hands intelligence.
No AI used here.
She knows true beauty,
and its ugly counterparts.
Thanks for the restack!
You said, "Say smiling sages" and it made me think: what about the beauty of a good laugh? I mean, truly, gut-busting laughter that leaves you gasping for air and with tears streaming down your face. It's messy, it's loud, it's gloriously imperfect. And yet, it's one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. When someone laughs like that, it's like they're momentarily shedding all their pretenses, all their worries, and just letting pure, unadulterated joy erupt. In those moments, they're radiant. They're vulnerable. They're utterly human. It's a beauty that isn't about symmetry or perfection, but about the wild, unbridled spirit within us. And, really, isn't that the most beautiful thing of all?