Life is filled with opportunity. Life is a series of choices. Life is susceptible to your will.

I know that there are many reasons to be broken down. I know that people can feel beaten and uncared for. I realize that there are struggles that people face that I cannot even fathom.

I realize that I write from a place of a, similarly to some, unfathomable privilege. I have never known what it’s like to live without basic necessities. I have always had food on the table, warm boots in the snow, and heat in my home.  I have never known discrimination.

I remember, as I grew into my adulthood and began meeting more people, I began to hear more and more stories of people who had terrible relations with their families. People who had been physically and verbally assaulted. Victims of sexual abuse, victims of racism, sexism and all the other prejudice –isms that make this world that much more challenging to succeed in.

I accept, and live with sincere gratitude for the opportunities I’ve been given in life. I have an unpayable debt to my parents for the life they have given me.

I celebrate the beautiful life that I’ve been granted.

I look for the beauty in life, and it is often easy to find. Because I don’t face daily discriminations I am able to enjoy a greater peace in this world.

I have the ability to smell the flowers, to listen to the sound of the water, to feel the breeze, the sun, the rain. I can enjoy the taste of mushroom soup. I can smile with a friend. I can appreciate the touch of a lover.

Even challenges, I can re-contextualize as an opportunity to grow.

I write this from a place of personal reflection. I realize that my life situation is unique. That not everyone, and as I’m discovering, very few people have the opportunities to enjoy life the way I do.

I am not working 60 hours a week at degrading jobs for minimal pay. I am not afraid to walk through the streets alone.

I acknowledge that I have been incredibly blessed in my life.

And because of that, I am able to celebrate beauty.

I am able to get lost in a song.

I am able to enjoy the smell of a curry cooking in my cozy home.

I pray that even people who struggle, with whatever unique challenges they may face, may be able to celebrate beauty.

Perhaps the willingness to look for the beautiful will help to rectify some of that pain. And that is not intended as an ignorant denial of the tragedies that exist in some lives. It is a prayer. I pray that in spite of your difficulties, you may have the ability to experience beauty in the world.

There is a lot to celebrate, and I hope you can find it in your heart to focus on that.

In this time it is becoming more and more apparent that there in fact is a good fight to be fought. Fighting for freedom, for equality, but I sincerely hope, that at the end of the day you can lay down your arms, whether it is a pen or a pistol, and hug someone you love, and celebrate that beauty. It is one of the greatest gifts.

That even in spite of the trials, you can remember that this world has incredible beauty in it. That the planet is a living, breathing organism that serves all the same.

We are more alike than we are different.

On this day I am humbled by the ease that I can access the beautiful mind set. That mindset which sees even struggles as beautiful gifts from god that strengthen our resolve and determination.

I choose to see life as beautiful, and that is a luxury I am more and more aware of by the day.

I sincerely pray that you can join me here.

I hope that you, and the entire world, may move closer to peace and utopia as we embody greater compassion for one another and the planet.

I see it as a worthy goal to celebrate the beautiful, and to allow more people to find that space within themselves.

I am committed to creating spaces that honour life, that revere nature, that celebrate all people as children of the same source.

When I look into the world, I see atrocities and I see the potential for harmony. I am committed to harmony.

It is a very deep wish that I leave this planet better than I found it and maybe that journey has something to do with the celebration of beauty.

Beyond the dichotomies, I celebrate the beautiful unification of our existence.

I pray this finds you well. That you can look for the simplest beauty for one second, to remember that life is worth living. It might not always be easy, but I pray that you motivations stay rooted in the beautiful, so we can all move towards peace together.