Standing Wrapped in Awe

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and science.  He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.  ~Albert Einstein

In the movie American Beauty, the “weird guy” videotapes a plastic bag blowing around in the wind, and tries to convince the “pretty girl” (I think) of its beauty.  I apologize for any inaccuracies, it’s been forever since I have seen this movie, but that scene was incredibly powerful for me. 

It proved to me that I was not so weird. 

The fact some writer out there put this scene in the movie meant they had noticed the potential beauty in something as simple as a plastic bag caught in a whirlwind.  I had confirmation there were people in the world who could see mystery and beauty and possibility in places others would never think to look.

And that, I believe, is why optimism and creativity are connected in my mind.  Both require you to look at the world in the potential it has, instead of what it appears to be.  A myriad options lie before us each day, and we get to decide if we will walk through them with our eyes open to mystery, hope and creativity, or if we are going to close our eyes and walk in the dark of conformity and negativity.  Which choice sounds better to you?