The Beauty of the World
Moonrise on the Sea – Henry Zhang
Tessa Lee
The world can be cruel. that’s true. the world can be a dark and unforgiving place, where your every mistake can tear relationships apart and destroy the unstable foundation of your shallow existence. but the world can be beautiful. it’s hard to see at times, i admit, but there will always come a day when the beauty of the world reveals itself once more. it may take a week, or a month, or five years, but that day will come. and when it does, every moment of heartbreak and struggle, of pain and sacrifice, of nightmares and tears shed, it will all be worth it. it is worth it to see the way the sun shines through the leaves of the tree canopy overhead. it is worth it to see the bluebells sprout through the layer of dirt, covering every inch of the forest floor. it is worth it to see the deer turning their heads and galloping into the distance. the world can be so very beautiful, on the days when your mind clears and distances from all the pain and heartbreak from before, and is allowed to truly revel in nature, soaking in every good feeling that buds within you, warming you from the inside out. it’s worth going through all the bad days, just so you can arrive at that one good day, when everything feels okay. when your body feels like your own, when you no longer feel like an imposter treading in the footsteps of its former selves, when you feel the weight lifted off your chest, just for a moment, and you can finally breathe. take a deep breath. the air is clean now. the sun looks so beautiful when it shines through the trees. the flowers are so resilient, appearing year after year, despite the wind and rain and turmoil that may come during their short life, they will always come back. and it’s beautiful. the stillness that surrounds you as you hold your breath, watching the grace of the stag and the doe as they watch you in return, it’s beautiful. the way you smile at the sky, spinning to the music, it’s the first genuine smile in a long time. and it’s beautiful. that feeling inside you is beautiful, so very very beautiful. the ways the trees grow, twisting and turning but growing ever taller, so many years of life in such a sturdy little thing. it’s beautiful. and eventually the feeling will fade, but for now you’re content to just enjoy it while it lasts, laughing in the sunlight and the fields, enjoying your picnic and the adventure that comes as you lose your way in the woods. and week by week, month by month, year by year, that feeling will get more and more frequent. it may take time, but it will come. because the world is beautiful. and it won’t hide that beauty forever.