Engine to Turn

Here is what I know:

There are the days when I find myself tired, restless, annoyed and grumpy for no particular reason. There is no use trying to say these days don’t exist because they do. I imagine anyone would agree with me on this, everybody knows these types of days.

I think of myself as being unbelievably lucky as these days do not visit often. More often, so very much more often, I am nearly bowled over by all of the loveliness around me.

For here is what I believe:

We are given a choice, every single morning of our lives. Because just as sure as their might be some gloomy days in the queue, there are also magical, charming, brilliantly colored days. At times, on certain days, we may have to dig a little deeper, search a little longer to find that brilliant color, but it is there. I know it is. And isn’t it worth the hard work to find the beauty, to search for the good, rather than focus on the bad, the cruel, the ugly? Because the ugly will always be there. But so, too, will be the beauty, the color, the goodness. I suppose, to me, that’s what faith is - knowing that the beauty is always there.

Last week, I went to dinner with a friend and then to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts to catch the charming Tift Merritt in concert. The show was held outdoors, in the museum’s courtyard. Folding chairs were set up for us to sit on, the rain that had been taunting us all day held off, and eventually the rainclouds parted, showing us all a glimpse of a not quite full but utterly stunning moon.

As Tift ended one of her songs my friend leaned over to me and whispered. “This is a perfect Wednesday night.” And then, before Tift and her band started their next song and before I could even nod my head in agreement, we all heard crickets. Crickets, chirping away, in a courtyard in the very heart of the city, pavement in every direction, with a hundred people huddled around an outdoor stage. What a lovely little moment.

Those are just the types of moments, the ones I bottle up, the ones I keep locked in my brain for those days and moments when I feel blue. Because it is all pretty wonderful isn’t it? Even in the most frustrating, aggravating moments, I can’t help but think that.

The beauty is always there.