Slice of Life: Finding Beauty

March 16, 2015 Catherine Flynn6 Comments

We live in an age of information overload. There are so many books, blogs, and websites that it’s impossible to read everything. Because of this, I was only vaguely aware of author Lisa Bonchek Adams and her blog that chronicled her battle with metastatic breast cancer. Ms. Adams passed away from this disease last week and the outpouring of grief from her followers has been astonishing. Among the tweets have been quotes from Ms. Adams’s writing. And although I don’t in any way equate the challenge of writing a blog post every day with the challenge of having cancer, I found this bit of wisdom tailor made for those of us half way through this month long writing challenge:

“Find a bit of beauty in the world today. Share it. If you can’t find it, create it. Some days this may be hard to do. Persevere.”

Driving home from Rhode Island yesterday, the sky was overcast and gray. Suddenly, an almost perfect rectangle of blue appeared. The clouds seemed to have made a window just to let that bit of beautiful blue sky shine though.

Dave Spicer [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons — Dave Spicer [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Given that one theme running through Saturday’s conference was opening doors, I couldn’t help but think it was a sign that the door was open, that I should persevere. Persevere with my writing, which I sometimes question. Persevere with improving relationships that sometimes feel too hard. Persevere with doing what I know is right for my students. There is beauty to be found in pursuing our goals.

Thank you to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for this space for teachers and others to share their stories each day during the month of March and on Tuesdays throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

6 thoughts on “Slice of Life: Finding Beauty”

Tara Smith says:

March 16, 2015 at 6:22 pm

I needed to read that quote and your slice today (and to gaze at the blue sky among the grey clouds) today, Catherine; it’s been a day of perseverance.

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agurney2015 says:

March 16, 2015 at 7:04 pm

Thank you for giving us a reminder that we can persevere and in doing so we might just notice the a blue sky and dare I say, hope around the corner.

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margaretsmn says:

March 16, 2015 at 7:27 pm

Finding beauty is easy now that spring is here in the south. I need to take note. Great idea for a post.

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jarhartz says:

March 16, 2015 at 11:22 pm

“If you can’t find it create it.” That is something to enter each day with. Thank you for this post. It winds through so many important ideas, linked beautifully together.

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Linda Baie says:

March 17, 2015 at 12:06 am

Thanks, Catherine, this is a wonderful slice you’ve written. I haven’t heard of that blog either, but the quote can serve us all well, a gift she left. I have conferences this week, and a goal is to help some of the parents see that their children need a little more grit, and that’s what I thought of when you mentioned the word “persevere”. One just takes the step, and then the next one. Thanks for such a nice post to wrap up my day.

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cvarsalona says:

March 17, 2015 at 12:23 am

Catherine, I am so pleased to have found your blog as the lead in to today’s slicing. Your words are a quiet tribute to the trait of perseverance that is the underpinning of life’s journey. Positivity is about creating the right moments to hear the whisperings of the universe. Thank you for bringing this to mind today.

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