Beauty

The hallway at an apartment building I visited last weekend. 

I remember being shocked when I realized that beauty was something close to a value of mine. Caring too much about beauty had always seemed vain, superficial. But in that moment, I could recognize that denying it was worse. Appreciating beauty—and letting it matter—is different from insisting on it, or making it the only thing that matters. I’m glad to have that perspective now.