I started over. But the world kept breaking my heart. It seemed so stupid to write about the trivia of daily life and a doomed search for beauty in a broken world.

And then I realized that is exactly why I should continue.

The days are going to go by anyway.

The sadness, the grief, and the vile ways we treat each other will not change.

All the more reason to keep a candle in the window.

All the more reason for flowers and soft blankets and poetry.

Beauty doesn’t exist because it is the cure. We don’t seek beauty because it keeps us safe or fortifies us.

Beauty is a roadside clump of lilies among the weeds.

Beauty is the sunset after a difficult day.

Beauty hopes, beauty defies, and beauty balances, especially when hatred puts a heavy thumb on the scale.

Beauty is here, even when our hearts are broken.