A Cover Girl Kind of Life



There’s something so appealing about cover girls on vintage magazines. 

They look beautiful, wistful, hopeful and joyful. 

I think I'm charmed by these artful covers because they convey a mood of years gone by that seems simpler, happier, calmer. A cover girl kind of life. 

But the cover is just the pretty outer layer of what's within the magazine. Past the cover, inside on the pages are the contents. 

Where everything that fills up the magazine is contained. The standard, ordinary stuff of articles, ads and stories. 

Just like a life filled with pages of events and activities is covered by an image that represents a heart and soul.


Normal, ordinary busyness fills the daily pages of my life. 

Sometimes the pages are filled with extraordinary beauty. Sometimes they are wearisome and perplexing. But sometimes small moments of wonder are the cover to the contents of my ordinary days. 

Last week I saw a hummingbird as I sat on my courtyard one evening. I can't remember the last time I'd seen one. I wasn’t even sure it was really a hummingbird hovering above the screen. 

It danced for a few seconds. Then I heard the humming. I watched it flutter above me for a few more seconds and then it was gone. 

I was wonderstruck. And I was curious about the meaning of hummingbirds. 

I discovered that they symbolize joy. A reminder that life is to be savored. 


I stopped to think about what landed on the pages of my life that I'd overlooked in the past week. 

All that happened behind the cover of my daily schedule. Beyond the commute to work, interactions with colleagues, and conversations with friends. 

I remembered the sweet surprise from my friend Bree of a cup of my favorite coffee (vanilla hazelnut from Einstein Bagels) sitting on my desk when I arrived at work. 

I thought of the email from my friend Kate, who reminded me of God’s promises for anxious situations with just these two sentences: “God is good. He is faithful always.” 

An impromptu dinner and shopping invitation from my friend Katherine was filled with girlfriend chitchat in the midst of a busy week. 

Little things. That are easy to overlook.


Looking for moments of beauty on the cover of my days isn’t always my first inclination. 

Worry, busyness and a focus on myself can splash over the pages of my life, making it harder for me to see the flashes of loveliness. 

I don't want to overlook them. 

Because recognizing and remembering them is the spark to help me through all the problematic, baffling and difficult pages of life. 

I'm appreciating the moments that turn out to be beautiful, wistful, hopeful and joyful. 

That look a lot like the cover girls on my vintage magazines.


Comments

  1. Inside my cover are funny moments with Ellie, tender moments with Joe, conversations with good friends, and our morning coffee chats. I love that we're a bunch of coffee drinkers who gather together each morning to start our days. I miss those moments on the weekend. But always know the inside of my cover on Monday includes coffee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes -- I love sharing coffee at our cubes! :) Thanks for sharing your cover moments -- and for all the morning chats too!

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