sunflowers and heartfelt sentiments

Yesterday, I ran to the grocery store, looking like I'd just escaped from prison. My hair was completely jacked up, I was wearing an old dress, and I had no makeup on.  It was one of those trips where I was hoping to just dash in and out before anyone even noticed that I'd walked in the door.

I walked through the entrance, and most people passed me without so much as a glance.  I continued to the floral section, where I discovered that the store was having a sale on sunflowers.  I couldn't resist:  I grabbed two bunches.

While I was wandering through the rest of the store, I couldn't help but notice that suddenly, everyone noticed me.  People began smiling huge grinn:  "Good morning!" more than a few of them called cheerily.  Finally, one woman behind the bakery counter cried out, "Hello!"  I smiled back, "Hi!"

"Those are some amazing flowers!"

She wasn't kidding: they were like magic.

* * * * * * *

As you know, I've been pretty busy this year traveling and speaking, primarily around my book, The Beauty of Different.  One of the points I've stressed in my talk is how much we buy into what the media defines as "beautiful" or desirable, to the point where we ignore what our own intuition tells us is so.  I propose that we take back the message around beautiful, and instead of relying on contrived social constructs of beauty, we  start sharing our thoughts on the beauty within the people we come across, instead of shyly keeping it to ourselves.

To help make it easier, on several occasions instead of passing out bookmarks at the end of my talks, I've passed out postcards:  the front of the postcards is usually one of my images; however, the back of the postcard always bears the same inscription:

I encourage the recipients to use the postcards as bookmarks while they read the book; then, once they've finished reading, if the book reminds them of someone they think of as beautiful, I invite them to write a note on the back and send it to that person -- sort of a nice surprise gift in the mail to someone who deserves it, you know?

My friend Tea recently wrote about her own postcard project (it's a lovely little project, you should really read about it), and in her post she mentioned my postcards:  since then, she's been pressing me to make the postcards available for sale (and indeed, one of her readers ended up bypassing her and contacting me directly!).  And so, I have:  if you'd like to buy some of these to send to your friends (or just put them on your own inspiration boards, or even use them as bookmarks), they are now available for purchase here. 

I hope you enjoy them.  Have a great weekend, friends, and may someone show you just how beautiful you are.

(And by the way -- thanks for sharing your art with me yesterday!  The winner of the signed copy of The Beauty of Different is Amy, who said, "My art is in life. From creating spaces I enjoy, to gardening, to tending friendships. I enjoy the creative process in all facets of my life." Congrats, Amy! Check your inbox for an email from me, so I can get your snail mail address.)

Song:  Sunshine of your love, as performed by Eric Clapton. This acoustic version makes me wildly happy.