DAY FOUR. BEAUTIFUL.

The word of the day is beautiful. I abuse the word. I use it for sad things, happy things and stunning things. There are some people, some things that cannot be described as good looking but they are beautiful. My former boss for example. She is arguably the most annoying woman south of the equator. She thinks on many planes at once and when it is time to knock off the floor is littered with the hair she pulls out of her head when she is nervous. She is not cute, or ravishing or gorgeous. One time I was sitting behind her in a taxi and she was prattling on about some relatives of hers. I was beside myself and burnt from the searing sun, I wanted to take the seat belt, place it around her neck and then begin squeezing until she was silent but I didn’t. Instead I sat there silently looking at her. Her kinky short hair, her dark skin, her thin lips that moved rapidly as she spoke and her thick arms that flared to emphasize her words. She was never going to win a beauty pageant but she was beautiful, she still is. I think she is beautiful because she is intense and she is rare. I am very happy not seeing her but I value her place on this planet.

The word beautiful is neither masculine nor feminine to me. It balances both genders harmoniously. I know some men who are so well sculpted that the best way to describe them is beautiful, not cheap words like hot, sexy or fine. Beautiful. Some people are beautiful because of the spirit they carry within, a well-travelled spirit, a naughty spirit, a glad spirit, an ambitious or a loyal spirit. I fall in love with beauty very easily; all forms of it. Some pieces of music are beautiful. I’m not going to mention names but I am going to describe the feeling. Beautiful is an impressionable feeling. Music can be good but not all music is beautiful. Beautiful music makes you feel alive. It a time capsule that holds memories, takes you back or holds you down to a particular point in time. Music that is beautiful can empathise, it can uplift or even criticise. I have heard music so beautiful it has made me laugh, brought tears to my eyes and haunted me. I know things that are beautiful because you cannot explain them or duplicate them. For example the sunset, mountains, big bodies of water and even some minds. I know bonds that are beautiful because they are aligned by something beyond us. I am going to be honest here and say that when I look at myself, I don’t see cute, hot and sometimes I don’t even see pretty. I used to see tired, insecure and uncertain. Now I see that sometimes beautiful is there even when all I see are these things. Beautiful isn’t race, weight or personality. It can’t be bought or sold and it doesn’t age. I understood just now that perhaps that is why old people stay in love. Because when they look at each other they don’t see wrinkles and the effects of gravity, they see beautiful. I used to be agnostic because I didn’t understand a lot of things. I rely on my logic for everything, it is a great strength but also a great flaw. There are some beautiful things that logic cannot grasp. I chose faith because I wanted to see and enjoy more of what is beautiful. The transformative power of faith itself is beautiful. Power is beautiful, even more beautiful when it selfless power.

So today I am celebrating the word beautiful. May you see the beautiful in your life.