Perception

He saw beauty in unusual places and unexpected things.

I stared at him as he was gazing at something ahead of us, as he continued scrutinizing the sight he obviously found so interesting his eyebrows pinched together, right before his eyes widened a little and his lips parted slightly. I turned front to find out what piqued his interest so much and frowned, in front of me was a muddied sidewalk, with muck on the edges of the cemented walkway and a flight of pigeons scattered all around the place, and the entire area looked brown and pale and dull. My frown deepened and I looked up again at him to confirm if this was the place he was gaping at and his eyes were still fixed ahead of us. What did he possibly see??

He glanced down at me and chuckled, looking at my bewildered face. His smile still fixed on his face he took out his phone, snapped a picture and handed the phone back to me.

I inhaled sharply.

The picture I saw on his phone was striking, there were tall trees bordering the entire perimeter which were lush and rich, with twisted branches and different leaf patterns, spread across the entire area making the picture breathtaking. The pigeons were dispersed all around and their grey bodies complimented the brown sand making them look like specks of glittered dust sparkled on a canvas of brown paint.

I was utterly taken by surprise and admiration for him, it was startling how he could change a simple thing and make it look completely stunning.

“Like it?” he asked.

“Love it!!” I answered, smiling into his eyes.

He smiled back, his eyes crinkling in the corners and leaned down to place a soft kiss on my lips. I went on my tip toes and curved my mouth against his.

“Let’s go, you little monkey.” he said, chuckling again and taking my hand into his, walking forward.

As we walked, I thought of all the other pictures he had clicked before;

The shadow of us looming over the street with the sun right behind our heads,

My silhouette as I stood tying my hair up,

Our clasped hands against a wooden bench,

The shape of my lips against a fogged window,

He had the eye of an artist and a mind of a designer, but most importantly he learned to admire the things which are rarely admired, right from how he traced the scars on my back lovingly to teasing me for mispronouncing certain words. And that’s when I realized that in this world to live happily we just have to start seeing the best of everything, find beauty in the rarest and imperfect things you can feast your eyes upon. Find beauty in the chipped end of your nails or the scars on your body which don’t make your skin entirely soft, find beauty in your thick thighs and a not flat belly. Don’t worry if you’re extremely thin or if you have a few extra pounds of flesh, because after all our body is but a vessel to the soul. It’s empty and useless without your inner spirit to guide it, wear your body like an armor against the world. Try to see everything with a different perspective, and the world will start seeing you differently. When you strut around with enigmatic energy and perplexing gaze all that the world can see in you is held in your eyes because,

beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.