Midwest: Beauty in the Ordinary

This past summer, I spent my days and nights in America’s beautiful corner we call the Pacific Northwest.  Mountains. Oceans. Trees. Lakes. Beauty was everywhere. As one who didn’t grow up in that area, I found myself overwhelmed and almost numb to the sight of Mt Rainier, Crater Lake, Hurricane Ridge and the other well-known surroundings of the region. I knew it was beautiful, one couldn’t deny the existence of the beauty. However, the beauty could not register. Instead, I found myself registering beauty in the way the sunlight shone through the moss that hung from trees, in the bubbles along the shore, or in the shadows of the ferns along the Redwoods. It was the little views which fed my heart - not the extraordinary ones. 

I must admit, after I departed Washington and found myself in the midst of Kansas’s hills and open sky - I finally felt the words previously said by others, “Open and flat.” It had been a long time since I had seen the horizon stretch so far and wide - a horizon which I dearly missed. If you ask anyone I had spent the summer with, they will tell you how much I missed the sky. (To which I blame my Midwestern upbringing for). 

The sky is always there - everywhere. No matter where you are in this world, you have the sky. Mountains or oceans, desert or jungle, You have the sky. East coast or west coast - we all have the sky. The midwest just has more sky than most.

I believe the sky teaches us to see beauty in the ordinary. And in this way, the sky is a beautiful reflection of the heartland - a place I am proud to be from.

The sky is always there - you don’t plan a road trip to see the sky. For most it’s ordinary in this regard, but for this very reason I see beauty. No matter my day, my attitude, my schedule - I can count on the sky. It just takes the movement of my neck and eyes to bask in it’s glory. The sky requires no effort. No matter the place or manner an individual finds themselves in, the sky is there. Regardless of how many times my eyes have seen the sky - I can still consider it beautiful.

Midwestern living reflects the humble and stable presence of the sky. Most days require the same amount of energy, involve the same tasks and responsibilities, include the same people. There are no requirements in order to live a “beautiful” life. Life, in it’s pure self, is beauty. In life’s ordinary and habitual way, beauty is not dismissed - but rather appreciated for. 
Happiness is nurtured when one can appreciate the beauty in something that occurs every where and every day.

Throughout the seasons, the states, the generations, the sky has been and will continue to be. The sky is always there. 

Yet in all the days of earth’s existence - a sky has yet to repeat itself. The colors, the shapes, the shadows, and the rays dance with each other. The sky thrives on change. Seconds pass and the sky you had just seen is no more. It has been replaced with that same familiar sky but it's changed in the slightest regard. Hours pass by. It’s a completely different sky - a new masterpiece.

The sky, along with the midwest, has as beautiful rhythm of consistency and change. Always dependable, yet always slowly changing. No change is forced. Instead change can only be done naturally and patiently - over time. Change isn’t viewed as bad, but as an unavoidable part of life. No matter the circumstance change will occur - so why force it? Live in the slow, inevitable, beautiful change that life brings. Appreciating each stage of life’s rhythm - knowing that it will never be the same again. Each moment as unique and beautiful as the last. 

The midwest gives the gift of finding beauty in the ordinary. When you are able to appreciate the “ordinary” in everyday living, your everyday living no longer remains ordinary. But rather, your life becomes full. Full of beauty. You live in the freeing realization that no matter what path life clears - beauty will still exist. You are able to see the the miracles in your “ordinary life.” All aspects of life, ordinary and extraordinary, offer beauty and deserve acknowledgment. The midwest doesn’t give the gift of contentment for the ordinary, but the gift of appreciation. 

What a beautiful way to live. Finding beauty in what others would mistake for ordinary. Living every day, same as the last, with the acknowledgement and appreciation for the miracles that occur in the ordinary.

What a beautiful sky. To stay. To be. For everyone and everywhere. Always there, but never the same. Offering beauty to those who don’t mistake it for ordinary. Giving a gift to those who live “ordinary” lives.