Finding Beauty in the Cycle of Life

So I am feeling a bit down recently.  I have been pretty sick the last 3 days, which is very unusual for me.  It started with a sore throat and progressed through a myriad of nose and head issues in addition to me just feeling really weak and tired all the time.  In addition to that, my Grandpa (the only one still alive) fell this weekend and they found a bunch of clots in his lungs.  They think he fell because he wasn't able to get enough oxygen in with the clots.  He hit his head and has had internal bleeding in/around his brain, and he is no longer able to swallow on his own, talk, or breathe without some help.  My family have all been waiting around lately with bated breath, fearing the worst, not knowing if he will be able to recover or if he will pass any day now.  My mind has been filled with many thoughts.  Many childhood memories of watching the Smurfs with Grandpa while eating graham crackers with frosting, the time he dressed up like Santa Claus to surprise me at Christmas and I pretended not to know it was really him, sitting next to him when I was a little girl while he painted, listening to his intense breathing as he focused entirely on creating.  Yes my Grandpa was an artist too.  I say 'was' as he stopped painting years ago due to loss of eye/hand coordination even though I tried to encourage him to still do abstract works.

My Grandpa hasn't passed yet and is mostly sleeping.  He has machines helping him to do the normal things his body would be doing to keep him alive.  He is still here but I feel those feelings almost like he's gone because I don't know how he will ever be able to be the same again.  I feel so much for my Grandma because how does one deal with someone suddenly not being there after they have been there for 60 years?  My Grandpa is 93 now and they have been together since they were in their 20's.  That is amazing.

I do believe in miracles and I know and hope there is a chance he can get better, but ultimately everything changes in time, everyone must go at some time.  It is perhaps the most difficult part of life to accept.

So today, in an effort to bring myself up and feel better, I'm going to focus on some things in life that are beautiful and/or inspiring.  I hope this will bring others up too that might feel down for whatever reason.

"The rainbows of life follow the storm."  -Anonymous


"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon the verdant green hills is the most perfect refreshment."  -Jane Austin


"Love comforteth like sunshine after rain."  -Shakespeare


"Don't ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.  Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive."  -Howard Thurman

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."  -Ralph Waldo Emerson


"There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle."  -Albert Einstein


"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."  -Audrey Hepburn


"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and science."  -Albert Einstein

"The rich fire of the orange sunset gloriously announces the coming night.  -Susan S. Florence


And with that ending quote, here are some recent pictures of beauty I have seen in my life.  Wishing beautiful thoughts and a calm serenity to all!

A candle I burned recently that melted into an angel or something.  Excuse the painted artist's table lol.

Beautiful friends

Unedited sunset photos from our balcony

Yay another angel candle photo on painted table

Beautiful Kitty

A couple recent paintings I finished

https://www.etsy.com/listing/113655775/large-original-painting-love-in-the-plum

https://www.etsy.com/listing/114037583/original-painting-16-x-20-blue-gray