Chasing Beauty: Why It Matters

Chasing beauty: Is it a distraction or a necessity?

“ A thing of beauty is a joy forever” - John Keats

Is the pursuit of beauty a shallow distraction, or essential to a life well-lived? Should one buy the flowers, knowing they will die in a few days? Wrestling with the tension wedged somewhere between the demands of the day and the pull of our dreams, we find that the pursuit of beauty is essential to cultivating an intentional life.

Beauty calls us. Its pursuit matters because it provides an anchor for our souls, beckoning us home:

• ✨Home to ourselves, reconnecting our hearts to those parts of our souls buried beneath life’s demands.

• ✨ Home to one another, sharing moments of connection and belonging.

• ✨Home to God, quieting our hearts with whispers of our transcendent hope.

This pursuit implies an active stance; it compels us to DO something.

How has the pursuit of beauty inspired you to action?

This sense of agency provokes us to foster a life of richness, connection, and deep meaning. The sheer power of beauty- or rather our response to it- draws us out of the day’s mundane tasks and into the bigger story of a life of purpose-lived on purpose.

So, don’t wait until circumstances become ideal…

Sometimes, this pursuit means that we must press…

Press into pain.

Press onward to hunt beauty down.

Beauty binds up our wounds and heartens us to dream in the wake of an aching loss. It pulls us out of a dark season of inertia following a crushing disappointment. When hunted by life’s inevitable heartaches, we must then choose to chase beauty, because:

✨It reminds of who we are.

✨Reveals who we hope to become.

✨Reminds us who God is.

✨Bolsters us, inspires the vision required to dust ourselves off.

✨Beauty shows us how to begin. Again.

Where do you find beauty?

So, back to our original question: should you buy the flowers?

Absolutely.

Go ahead:

• Stare at the painting.

• Buy the flowers.

• Take the stroll.

• Read the book.

• Cook the fancy (and totally impractical) meal.

• Climb the mountain.

• Play the instrument.

• Choose and chase beauty. The choice is ours. Don’t wait for the circumstances to change-or for life’s challenges to disappear. Do it now. One day, one intentional act at a time.