While I was studying in Argentina a few years back with my friend Liz, she began to keep a log. Each day she would write down three beautiful things that happened.
She wrote them in a small, purple notebook: an unobtrusive, physical reminder to keep an eye out for the beauty that surrounds us. Sometimes that beauty is blatant. It could be in a sunrise or at the peak of a mountain, for example. But in other instances it is subtler, hidden even, and it takes a shift in perspective to be able to see it.
We grow more accustomed to a place the longer we live there. We’re adaptable creatures, when it comes down to it, and that’s a great quality to have. But for all the comfort we gain through increased familiarity, we lose a bit of our fresh perspective. I’ve only lived in Nome for six months, but I’ve already caught myself taking certain sights, sounds and interactions for granted.
So, keeping with the theme of list-posts my co-workers/roomies have shared in their blogs recently, here are a few things (of many) that I have found simply beautiful in just the past few weeks:
- Cross-country skiing adventures out in the tundra. We saw a flock of ptarmigan, too!
2. Ice. It’s everywhere. Sometimes it’s out to get you (as I’ve written about before) but most of the time it’s stunningly beautiful, especially when the sun comes out.
3. And speaking of sun, the return of the light. I didn’t realize how much I had missed the sunlight. Now, it stretches before and after the workday leaving lots of time to bask in it.
4. Home-cooked traditional Native meals made by kind and generous visitors.
5. Receiving a whole envelope of heartfelt letters from friends back home and care packages from my parents.
6. The opportunity to travel to welcoming and wonderful places like Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island…and learn how to REALLY play Bingo.
7. The exhilaration of the start of race season, watching the community come alive in support of their favorite mushers and racers for the K300, IronDog and soon-to-start Iditarod.
8. Live music performances and weekly karaoke.
9. Heart-to-hearts with the KNOM volunteer family. They happen daily and they are wonderful. (P.S. These include everyone, but apparently I only have pictures of Jenn).
10. Getting to hear and share the love stories of locals through the Story49 Love Series.
11. Perhaps, most simply and beautifully, the ability to be truly present here in this place.
