French philosopher Simone Weil said only two things pierce the human heart. One is beauty. The other is affliction. Life brings you affliction. In buckets. This leaves a longing in your soul for beauty. But to find it, you must know it.

Beauty Hides In Plain Sight Beauty is not a place. Mountains and beaches have not cornered the market. Whenever your heart is stirred by: - A song - A film - The touch of a loved one - The joy of a child - An act of kindness You have found beauty.

Beauty Is Subtle Beauty never forces itself on you. It never demands your attention. It invites it. It brushes past you to see if you notice. If you're not paying attention, you'll miss it.

Beauty Is Organic Beauty is like inspiration. It can't be manufactured or forced. It presents itself naturally to those who are ready to receive it.

Beauty Is Real Our world is so artificial. Screens. Simulations. Code. Beauty resides in the real. It's sensory, visual, tangible. Real. It's outside your door. It's inside the person next to you.

Beauty Is Impractical Our world is so functional. But beauty will not be time-managed. It is not efficient. It cannot be scheduled. Beauty delights in presenting itself at the least opportune times.

Beauty Is Unexpected Beauty arises in unlikely places. On the edges of your sorrow. Out of a tragedy. Henri Nouwen once wrote that in every moment of life sorrow and joy kiss. On the other side of your aching heart, Beauty plays hide-and-seek.

Beauty Is Playful Beauty asks you to dance. It puts away the umbrella and gets drenched. It begs you to build a blanket fort. The serious, the driven, the dignified ⏤ shall not enter the kingdom of beauty.

Beauty Requires Presence You can't multi-task with beauty. It requires your full attention. It must be given time. Coddled. Drawn out. Focused on. If you want beauty, slow down. Stop. Stay awhile.

Beauty Is Elusive Beauty is there for a moment, then gone. It is a vapor, a flash. A shooting star glimmering across the night sky, then vanishing. When beauty finds you, Delight in it while you can. It will soon vanish.

Beauty Restores There can be no beauty in violence. Beauty does not tear down. It builds up. It brings back to life. It repairs, reconnects, redeems. Beauty is rain on a dry and weary soul.

Beauty Reframes Beauty doesn't explain things. It doesn't tell you why that happened. It doesn't bring clarity to your pain. But beauty loosens your grip on the need to understand. It shifts your view, opens your heart, gives perspective. Beauty puts things in their place.

Beauty Is Triumphant I once passed a field devastated by fire. Desolation spread to the horizon. The next Spring, I passed again. It was radiant, lush, stunning. The fire created the conditions upon which new beauty could emerge. Beauty always wins in the end.

In the ugliness of life, what's missing is beauty. It's all around you, yet hard to find. Because it's: - Subtle - Organic - Real - Impractical - Unexpected - Playful It demands presence. It's elusive. Yet, its power is unmatched. It restores. It reframes. It triumphs.

Thanks for investing your time in my thread. If it helped you, I'd be grateful if you'd: •Retweet the first tweet so others find it too •Follow me @wdmorrisjr ⏤ it encourages me to keep writing!

One more thing... Beauty often meets me through music. If that's you too, I put together the playlist I listened to while reflecting on and writing this thread. I hope it serves to connect your heart to beauty the way it has mine this week:

@wdmorrisjr “It never demands attention, it invites it” - sounds like something a philosopher wrote. Love this concept!

@barrettjoneill I probably stole that from somewhere! But, if I can't remember where, then it's original, right?

@wdmorrisjr Damn... Can we get an anthology of David Morris poems next please?

@DavidZabinsky 😂 😂 This comment made my day! I am becoming an old man in my mid-40's! These are the things we ponder.