created in complexity

Isn’t it strange that we can look out at something so big, unknowable, and beautiful and still feel sad or anxious or shameful or wounded? Sometimes beautiful things spark in us a gratefulness and awe; other times they remind us of the emptiness or loneliness that seethes under the surface. 

As I took this photo, I asked myself, “How can I look at this and not be filled with wonder?” But the truth is that there is beauty in the not-so-beautiful, in the sadness and longing. They point us to a place of wholeness; they remind us that this is not the end of our journey, that the story is still being written. They remind us that we were created in complexity—as body, mind, and spirit. 

I am learning to sit in the undesired places, to not immediately try to fix it...or me. But sometimes that means finding sadness in the beauty and beauty in the not-so-beautiful.