Finding Beauty: Those Yellow Ribbon Moments

Do you remember a time when beauty stopped you in your tracks? When something so lovely or meaningful made everything else fall away for just a moment?

I had one of those experiences when I was in third grade. I was home sick from school, and my mom needed to drop something off at someone's house who was sick. "You can just stay in the car," she told me. While she was inside, I changed the channel on the car radio and heard "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree" for the very first time.

AI's pretty good approximation of what I pictured in third grade!

I sat there completely captivated by the story in that song - this man coming home, unsure if he was still loved, asking for just one yellow ribbon as a sign. And then, the joy when he saw not just one ribbon, but hundreds! I could picture it all so vividly, even though I'd never experienced anything like it myself.

When my mom got back in the car and turned off the radio, I barely heard what she was saying. I was still glowing from that song, transported by its beauty.

That's what beauty does in our lives - it bridges gaps. It helps us feel beyond ourselves. It connects us to experiences we haven't personally lived. Beauty isn't just decoration or a luxury - it's essential to becoming fully human.

Beauty shows up in so many ways:

→ In nature, when sunlight filters through leaves or rain creates puddles that reflect the sky

→ In music that somehow speaks directly to your heart

→ In a moment of connection when someone truly sees you

Even in difficult times, when an act of courage or kindness shines through pain

When we pay attention to beauty, we're doing more than just noticing pretty things. We're acknowledging that we're more than practical creatures solving problems. We're beings capable of wonder, of transcendence, of being moved by arrangements of colors or notes or words that somehow speak directly to our hearts.

What was your yellow ribbon moment? When did beauty last stop you in your tracks? Today, you might try looking for one small beautiful thing - not to check a box on your to-do list, but because noticing beauty changes how we move through the world. It reminds us that even on ordinary days, extraordinary moments are hiding in plain sight.