In the light of everyday life,

I have found myself consumed by beauty,

In beauty,

And by what is perceived as beautiful.

So consumed

That I’ve strived to mold,

To squeeze,

To conform,

Into whatever this may be.

Even if it meant straying away

From my own self.

Straying away from the very essence

Of what made me beautiful.

Though true beauty requires

No adjustments,

No corrections.

For to try to correct beauty would be to question beauty itself.

And I have come to the realisation that

Beauty is not for our questioning,

It is not to be defined.

Not to be defined by our human being.

For beauty belongs to a power greater than the ordinary human will.

And in my quest to beautify my being,

I fell deep into the need to beautify

My life too.

Into polishing

Every rough corner,

Covering up all the times I have broken down into a pile of tears on my floor,

Stitching up every tear to the heart,

Brushing away any dreams I never managed to bring to life.

Never finding beauty in life just as it was.

Though as time has passed,

And countless consolations with the oceans,

Wisdom has flowed in with the rise and fall of the tides.

And I have learnt that to give beauty to a simple life is like appreciating the beauty of the clear blue skies.

For beauty in simplicity is much more delicate to present to another,

Than beauty which captivates the eyes instantly.

And so life is like this.

A life which inflates the joys and sorrows may be an admirable life indeed,

When seen through the eyes of another.

And though a simple life may from the surface appear ordinary,

True beauty shines in this simpleness.

Where there is no need to exaggerate,

No need to animate,

To draw distractions with those hands,

Merely to adhere to the common notions of beauty.

But to accept the picture just as it is.

Accept life just as it is.

Just as clear simple blue skies.

Just one colour,

Is more than enough.

Peaceful in itself.

Content in its own beauty.

Beautiful in its simplicity.

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Apprentice Editor: Kristin Monk / Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: Courtesy of the author