Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the infinite. ~ Francis Bacon

Originally posted 10/11/2020

Today, as I was struggling to figure out a topic for my Sunday night post, I did what I so often do and turned to the web. Surprisingly, often finding a topic is as easy and typing happiness into the search bar. Tonight, what I did a search for was, the elements of happiness. I scanned through several lists of what people feel are the important elements of happiness and after writing the Ministry of Happiness blog for the last 11 years, there weren’t a lot of surprises.

Sunset, Gulf Shores Alabama

The list almost always is composed of a few common things, smile, laugh, live in the now, reduce negativity in your life, protect your health and exercise.  What I found interesting was a single posting that looked at this idea from the perspective of the writings of Carl Jung. That article was the only one that mentioned beauty.  So tonight a simple idea, don’t forget about beauty. 

Beach sunsets are the best

Throughout the post I’m integrating some of my sunset photographs.  One of the things I love most in the world, and is how I get a consistent source of beauty is watching and photographing sunsets.

Sunset on Chukhung in Nepal

It’s a really simple idea, but one I think it is all too easy to overlook, we need beauty in our lives.  There’s a great TED article on beauty that expresses this idea simply and quite well. We need beauty, it makes us feel better, beauty begets beauty, which is an idea I really love.  When I walked my 1000 miles on the Appalachian Trail, I asked myself three questions every day.  One of those questions was, what was the most beautiful thing I experienced today.  The question turned out to be far more powerful than I could have predicted.  Even though at times the days were incredibly hard, it made me focus everyday on all of the beauty that I was experiencing, from beautiful landscapes to flowers to sunsets and even to some of the simplest things like a birdsong or a the sound of a babbling brook.

Sunset on the Arctic tundra

So a simple request tonight, don’t forget about beauty.  Ask yourself this question each day, what was the most beautiful thing I experienced today?  It will make you more aware of the beauty around you, make you seek out beauty constantly, and help you have happier days my friends. ~ Rev Kane