JENNIFER WALLACE
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  • About
  • Upcoming
  • Poems and Essays
  • Blog
  • THE BEAUTY PROJECT
  • New Work
  • Photos and Video
  • Blog
  • REVIEWS

The Beauty Project: I Shall Open My Eyes and Ears

7/3/2017

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Wheaton College professor, Clyde S. Kirby, distributed his “Eleven Resolutions to Guide Life” to his students at the start of each term. Resolution #7 begins with this sentence, I shall open my eyes and ears….and it continues: Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their “divine, magical, terrifying, and ecstatic” existence.
 
As I read this again today, I am reminded of 2008, the year the great recession hit, when one of my sons, a recent art school graduate, said, “Somewhere along the line beauty became a cop-out, a word synonymous with vacancy.” He jolted me, a punch to my gut…my gorgeous, soulful son uttered those sad words. That very day I started an inquiry whose goal was to collect other thoughts about the big idea of beauty. I called it “The Beauty Project.” Contributors run the gamut: poets, artists, plumbers, doctors, etc. You can check out the comments here.
 
After a long hiatus, amidst so much ugliness, it seems now a good time to reinstate “The Beauty Project.” I invite you to share your thoughts by visiting my website and adding your comments to this blog post.
 
I will collect comments periodically and will post updates via my site, Facebook & Twitter. Additionally, you will see a place on the blog page for you to add your e-mail address. By adding your e-mail, you’ll receive occasional updates and reading/listening/viewing suggestions gleaned from The Beauty Project’s database. You can trust that I will never share your address with third parties of any kind.
 
And, please pass the link to your friends, neighbors, colleagues. Let’s widen the circle.
 
















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    Author

    Jennifer Wallace is a poet, photographer and teacher living in western Massachusetts. Paraclete Press published her new book of poems, Almost Entirely, in November 2017 and will publish a second collection, Raising the Sparks, in 2021 

    After decades of avoidance and experimentation, she decided in her 50's to get serious about her spiritual practice and is now, mostly, happily settled within her Christian roots.

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