A few years back, a friend handed me a copy of John O'Donohue's book, Beauty – The Invisible Embrace. I did not imagine how much it would become part of my life

   I have two copies. One lives on my desk at home. The other I carry always in my briefcase 

   Liz Wessel and I often quote O'Donohue. Instead of referencing one sentence of his, I offer you this selection from Chapter One (emphases added):

   When we hear the word "Beauty", we inevitably think that beauty belongs in a special elite realm where only the extraordinary dwells. Yet without realizing it, each day one of us is visited by beauty. When you actually listen to people, it is surprising how often beauty is mentioned. A world without beauty would be unbearable. Indeed the subtle touches of beauty are what enable most people to survive. Yet beauty is so quietly woven through our ordinary days that we hardly notice it. Everywhere there is tenderness, care and kindness there is beauty. Despite our natural difficulties with our parents, each of us has in our memory moments of deep love we shared with them. Perhaps it was a moment in which you became aware of some infinite tenderness in the way your mother gazed upon you, and you knew that her heart would always carry you as tenderly as it carried herself. Or it might have been a phrase of affection that has continued to sound around your life like a bright circle of blessing.

   What could be more beautiful than O'Donohue's own words? It is the way in which they inform your actual experiences of beauty – including the moment you are living right now.

-Erie Chapman