you find what you look for

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When I redesigned my site over a year ago, I decided to add a tagline.  As it happens, "Wildly Convinced You're Uncommonly Beautiful" was an easy one to pick:  having written a book about beauty and photographed hundreds of people, the statement wasn't just a platitude -- I had truly become wildly convinced that each person is uncommonly beautiful.  

I'm sure many people who see this phrase at the top of my site regard it with some skepticism.  I hardly think you've met everyone in the world, they might muse to themselves.  I mean, you haven't met my ex-husband.  There isn't a drop of beauty in that guy.  And perhaps that's true; certainly I've run into my share of folks who are capable of some ugly behaviour.  But the fact remains:  my experience tells me if I take a moment to breathe, and really look at someone, I mean really look at him, I am invariably able to see beauty.  Sometimes it's physical -- like striking eyes, or a broad smile, or elegant hands.  Other times, a person's beauty might manifest in a talent: a passion around a particular hobby, say, or a facility with kids, or even an ability to tell an amazing story.  And sometimes, the beauty isn't tangible at all; it's just an aura.  His spirit.

His light.​

But nonetheless, the beauty is there.​

Yesterday, I visited the ​site of one my favourite photographers, Hailey Bartholomew.  I've been a fan of Hailey's for a few years now (and her philosophy on gratitude closely mirrors mine), so I knew that I was going to find some lovely little gem of beauty when I landed on her site.  I was right:  she had just published a very sweet video about finding rocks shaped like hearts, ostensibly to show her kids that "what we see mainly depends on what we look for."  

Here, you should watch it -- click on the image below (just under 3 minutes long):​

Sweet, isn't it?  In that lovely little video, she has encapsulated everything I believe about finding beauty  -- and, for the record, finding ugliness, as well.  You find what you look for.  

So.

I remain wildly convinced you're uncommonly beautiful -- and that life is uncommonly beautiful -- because I'm looking for it, man.  ​And I make a dogged, determined, practice of looking for it.  I view this site as my tool for capturing and recording it.  And invariably, I've been able to find it.  Almost every time time.

Because it's there.​


Incidentally, if you'd like to begin a practice to convince yourself there is beauty in your life, consider joining us for Path Finder.  It promises to be an introspective, mess-making, art-creating, superpower-discovering great time, and we'd love to have you.  Registration is open now.