Editor's note

By Alex Garrison

Thursday, November 5, 2009

After a long day of classes, fulfilling commitments, the pressures of everyday life, I take a short walk through campus and down the hill. I walk home and, sometimes for the first time that day, get a moment to myself to relax. I walk, I take deep breaths and I unwind.

 Often, as I let my mind temporarily go blank of the day’s worries, I catch a glimpse of a something simple — some small representation of nature juxtaposed with my path from point A to point B — that makes my day.

 For the brief moments I pass it, the blazing red of Fraser Hall painted by the setting sun becomes my only care in the world. Shuffling my feet through a pile of leaves like a little kid, the patterns and rustling they make brings a smile to my face.

 I didn’t always have this knack for finding the beauty in things.

 Growing up, my dad, a passionate lover of all things arbor, would drag my sisters and my mom and me on extensive car-ride tours to look at — and talk about — trees.

 As an apathetic teenager, I hated these journeys. Nothing could be more lame or annoying than my out-of-touch dad’s incessant ramblings on how pretty Japanese maples look in summer. No way was I participating in getting excited about a distant shrub’s fiery hue.

 But after I came to the University — after I grew up a little bit — I changed my tune. It came naturally at first — I’d stop to take a second look at a flower and appreciate thinking about something other than my stressors or woes. Soon, taking the time to find simple pleasures became a vital, routine way of finding a little bit of happiness in each and every day.

 Check out University Daily Kansan photographer Tanner Grubbs’ photo essay on page 8 to see some examples of the beauty and joy to be found in the places we pass — and likely miss — every day.

 Next time you’re feeling stressed, take a deep breath, look around and find some of the beauty around you. It’s bound to be there if you look.

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