by Marisol B.
I find myself a day away from a forty-day journey where I get to detach from little comforts and dive deeper into the fact that we are made of dust; yet created for eternity.
During this little journey, I will be giving up sugar (great opportunity to detox), cutting social media time and reading more materials printed on real paper, as opposed to a brightly lit screen. Nonetheless; there is one more thing that I plan to do and it fills my heart with joy and anticipation.
photo by Berta via
It all begins with a beautiful person; my beloved maternal grandmother, who lives abroad. We have shared many conversations; some of which have occurred in pretend Chinese (I would mimic Mandarin sounds and my grandma would gladly answer in the same manner), lately though; her conversations are short and distraught. A couple of years ago she began to exhibit neurological changes that are taking a toll on her memory and the ability to thread a conversation or relate certain facts.
Before this, she was alert, well-read, and independent. She used to drive around the city and teach a yoga class during the morning; nowadays, she is to stay home for most of the time under special care. This really breaks my heart and that is why I would like to do something special for her.
I am planning on calling her every morning for the next forty days and asking her questions that enable her to focus on the beauty around her. During my last conversation, I realized that it was exhausting for her to keep up with a chat about life or family members; so I asked her whether it was sunny that day and inquired about her beautiful garden.
If you would like to follow along, I invite you to read the conversation within the comments section of this story. I am looking forward to making her days brighter and filled with joy.
If you would like to do something similar for someone else, please post an image or story with the hashtag #GivingBeauty or simply the usual hashtag #FindBeauty