Mid-June. Hot pink blossoms caught my eye as I walked along the edge of a friend's well-tended yard. Just past the point of mowed and weed-whipped order were the tall grasses and wild flowers of an overgrown field, which hosted the luscious display of Sweet Williams. Viewed from the road, the tidy lawn with its trim white fences had brought more than one sigh of envy from neighbors and tourists over the years. But upon closer inspection, the true beauty was just off the path in the wilds of the chaotic field. But would the beauty be so beautiful if the contrasting order didn't exist to frame it like artwork?
With the arrival of a major birthday-milestone this month, I found myself contemplating life as I walked the lawn. It seemed the moments I look back on and cherish the most were merely chaotic events that briefly flared, then were gone. They were events that contrasted against the routine I'd ordered for myself, events that provided the out of the ordinary, just-off-the-path kind of beauty that seemed to dazzle so much more than the average, run-of-the-mill, daily experience. And yet, without the framework of that routine order, the beauty could not have existed. I would not have seen it. I would not have recognized it.
I continue to strive to create deliberate order in my life. Not so long ago, I would have considered the task a robbery of the spontaneous beauty that showed itself to me on occasion. But I'm no longer fearful of order. I see it now as a framework, a boundary, a backdrop to the beauty found in the chaos that cannot be escaped as we journey through life.
Want a little order for yourself? Help is available. Flylady.com and a twelve-step program put me on a path to find the beauty in life. There's a combination that's right for you, too.
