beauty

As the story goes, John Lennon’s mom told him that what is important is to be happy so when he started school the teacher said, what do you want to be when you grow up and he said “happy”.  The teacher said you don’t understand the goal of education and he said, you don’t understand the goal of life.  I started looking at what makes me happy.  When I was younger it was a BLT sandwich with 20 pickles.  Beautiful people make me happy.  When I was younger, I just saw externally beautiful people and I did not hesitate to say, that is a beautiful woman or man.  I remember sitting in my father’s New York City office and just watching the muscles of an African-American construction worker.  He was right outside the window so I could see the strips of sinew under his skin and watch the movement to the tight brown skin.  My mother came in and I was staring out the window.  She did not understand how beautiful I thought his skin was.   Often beautiful faces would make me pause.   Now what I see that is beautiful is often not as simple as the skin, but the compassion that someone is showing toward another.  To give what is asked without question… makes me happy.. and is very beautiful.  One thing that can make you very happy is to know  whether you are in a relationship or in the middle of thousands, when push comes to shove, you have to walk the last mile alone.