There is beauty in the details of life.
There were thousands of creations with varying depths of details showcased at this past Art and Craft Festival event held from July 22 to 25 at Head Lake Park. When it comes to such displays it’s easy to recognize the kind of aesthetic beauty borne by the love of each artist. How each piece purchased and taken home resonates with a certain person and touches them, which can only be subject to speculation. After all, what is beautiful?
Now, the characteristics of a piece and how someone feels about a work of art can be found in the details, whether it’s the form, texture, or in the lines and symmetry that are present.
The same can be said for everyday life.
Among the details of our lives is time spent at a dinner table, or in front of the television, a camping trip, an ATV ride, a walk in town to get ice cream, a canoe trip with a portage to a far flung river. Some of these include the routines we take for granted such as the fleeting exchanges we share with people. This can be with family members, friends, lovers, or life partners. Some more memorable than others, but none of this is without value. To me, these seemingly innocuous interactions are at the foundation of love.
Love is complex and simple. A paradox of emotions and feelings, which are constantly influx from anger to joy and everything in between.
Love can be demonstrative and physically apparent to people. It can also be unspoken, which can be shared space, or in recognition of another with a glance, a light in the eye. There can be an energy, which uplifts a person’s mood simply by being in someone’s presence. As I write this, Midnight Madness has not happened, but I anticipate smiles and laughter by the spectacle of the event. However, I see a reunion of locals and of long-time cottagers catching up. It makes me feel good thinking about it.
Love is all around us. And it is there even when we’re consumed by inconvenience because of the summer crowds and traffic, or when our patience is at its limit and it feels like no one understands us, or when we have that feeling of dread when everything seems to be turning out wrong on a given day.
Routine is not a word I would say conveys what would immediately be anything to get excited about. There is something great about the expected though. Something that is consistent. Something you can rely on. Sometimes we can get so consumed by the value we place on novelty and newness we miss out on what it means to be grateful for what we have and what we believe will always be there. I heard somewhere if we don’t value what we have now we will when it’s gone.
Summers in the Highlands means crowds, delays to drives, shortages of items we can easily purchase during the the rest of the season. It also brings opportunity to sleep outside (when bugs are not attacking us) under the stars. It brings moonlight swims. It offers a time for long walks in the woods. It’s summer and it’s great. You might characterize it as routine. Something that comes once a year.
Take stock and see the value in the everyday. See the beauty within and be open to the beauty that is all around … even when we’re sitting in traffic on Highland Street waiting for a driver to decide about which parking space to choose. What’s a few minutes of stewing with frustration when there are other things to take in and savour. Breathe in the summer heat. Let the sun warm your face. Summer’s here are short enough let’s not allow a few minutes here and there of anxiety rob us of the simple joys like health and our senses to embrace life and the beauty it can offer.
