You know, my grandfather was an egg farmer...

...I used to candle eggs at his farm. Do you know what that is? You hold an egg up to the light of a candle and you look for imperfections. The first time I did it he told me to put all the eggs that were cracked or flawed into a bucket for the bakery. And he came back an hour later, and there were 300 eggs in the bakery bucket. He asked me what the hell I was doing. I found a flaw in every single one of them – you know, thin places in the shell; fine, hairline cracks. You look closely enough, you’ll find that everything has a weak spot where it can break, sooner or later.
- Ted Crawford, Fracture

So I'm really not going where you think I'm going with this. Logically, I'd start a long bit about people's weaknesses, finding them, and what people choose to do when they find each other's weaknesses. That'd be interesting, but perhaps another day. No, I'm going into something I thought about today while driving to Island Heights to take pictures of the sunset.

My favorite days to takes pictures of the sunset in Island Heights are the days that are slightly overcast, with a few clouds but not enough to cover the sky or block the horizon. They add color to the sky as the sun sinks, and add character. I was excited because I could tell, even from home, that it was going to be lovely, and it was. The river was all frozen over and the sky was reflected on the ice.



On my way, I wondered how it is that people can watch the sun set and fail to be moved deeply by it. I am not a "religious" person, but there have been evenings when I see the sunset and mornings when I watch the sunrise, that I feel like that those moments are God. I see waves crashing and clouds parting, and brilliant streams of color and light flooding the sky, and sometimes, at a certain moment, I'll feel like I've gotten a glimpse of a higher power - of evidence of a higher power, because so much beauty cannot exist on its own. I wondered, though, how someone could see what I see, and not feel divinely inspired, or at the very least, full of warmth and life and love.

Then I thought about everything else I revel in: a good song or piece of music, a well-done film, a good book or poem, certain plays and musicals, performances of anything good, photographs and paintings and statues and pretty much anything artistic. Including style (yes, I mean clothes) and architecture (the Chrysler Building in New York is my favorite, though I have a soft spot for the old cathedrals of France). And certain feats of athleticism, too. And I wondered how people can not, at the very least, simply appreciate the beauty in them, or even see it. But then I decided that it's not true.

I realize that not everyone is going to appreciate everything that I do, because let's face it, I see beauty in a ton of things that few others would even notice, much less think about. But I decided that everyone has something - there is a way to reach everyone. Everyone has a sensitive spot, everyone has something that will move them. Even if it's as simple as getting choked up during a cliche pop song, or experiencing a change of heart after watching a soap opera, there is a way to everyone - which, to me, means that there's beauty in everything. And I'd much rather look for the beauty in people, for the sensitive spots, the places where they are vulnerable and open to feeling deeply, than look for their weaknesses.

Take my hand and lead me to salvation.
Take my love, for love is everlasting,
And remember the truth that once was spoken:
To love another person is to see the face of God.

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Now playing: Les Miserables Original Broadway Cast Recording - Finale