Things of Beauty #22

Pretty pictures of small creatures, pockets of quiet, and food with friends

There's a definite theme to four of these five items below: slowing down. While the short poem below is directly about inviting quiet into our lives, most of the other items embrace an element of that, as well. From an invitation to stop scrolling, to nature photos, and sharing food with friends—it all implies a slower pace. Even the one outlier (about ChatGPT) is really about stepping back and truly evaluating the technology, so maybe not such an outlier after all.

In my academic work, it's one of those busy seasons as we wind down the semester and the academic year. The pace quickens, often for really fun and exciting reasons like graduation celebrations and year-end presentations that allow us to reflect on exactly how much has been created and accomplished.

But even when the events are inspiring and fun, I still find myself seeking space for pockets of quiet. Which is likely why these particular things are feeling beautiful to me right now.

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Small, quiet, lovely things this week:

🐿 The best possible reminder to stop scrolling (this whole carousel of photos is just *chef's kiss):

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🤖 I found this to be a really informative and reassuring piece on ChatGPT from Cal Newport. His book Digital Minimalism is one of my favorites for really practical takes on how to not let technology, especially social media and email, take over our lives, so it was no surprise that I appreciated his take on AI, as well. (Big thanks to reader Mindy for sharing this article with me!). While we're talking AI, I also appreciated this article examining the positives and negatives of using AI in mindfulness apps— Digital Deepak: A Byte of Enlightenment?

🖋 The Poem, Clearing by Martha Postlethwaite. I came across this again recently and love the way it speaks to the importance of getting quiet in our noisy world (at least that's what it's saying to me). Thinking about how this might be a good discussion starter in my Designing Your Life class.

Do not try to save
the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create
a clearing
in the dense forest
of your life
and wait there
patiently,
until the song
that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know
how to give yourself to this world
so worthy of rescue.

🎨 I love this art from David M. Bird! He's crafted these magical little woodland creatures (Becorns, he calls them) and then placed them in nature and captured photographs of birds and other small animals interacting with them. Such fun work to explore!

🥗 The Dinner Party Project: A No-Stress Guide to Food with Friends by Natasha Feldman. I just got this cookbook and have just started flipping through it—but the author had me at "no-stress" and "food with friends." I love the idea of not overthinking a meal with friends, and at first glance, this book has lots of practical ideas. I love that there's a whole section on ideas for store-bought dessert, embracing that idea that not every single thing needs to be precious and bespoke.

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What's new with you? Read (or reread) any good poems lately? Seen any inspiring art, with or without woodland creatures? Any dinner-party tips and tricks you want to share? I'd love to hear about it!

Be well, find tiny joy-

Mary-Chris