Everything is a masterpiece

Photo: Myriam Zilles

I played football my freshman year in high school and they put me at wingback, the ideal position for a player you know isn’t right anywhere else. In that role, I had a reception rate of 100%, mostly due to the fact that I only ever had two passes come my way and managed to catch them, after which I was promptly flattened.

They called the position the ‘man in motion,’ and this is an apt descriptor of every aspect of my life.

My friend Jonathan Pitts-Wiley once said to me, “your power comes from stillness.” He has a knack for observances with Yoda-level insight.

Since sharing the Acceptances publicly, I’ve been interrogating what it is I like about them, and I’ve come to this: they captivate me because I’m paying attention. And whenever I really pay attention to things, I am struck by the wonder of their existence.

It’s like when you stop and really look at a leaf, or a puddle, or the way a haze in the sky smears a scrap of rainbow across the troposphere. Somehow the act of attending imbues the observed with significance, meaning, and beauty.

Whether you listen to the Acceptances or watch a raindrop find its way down your window, I hope you have an occasion to stop and appreciate the masterpieces that surround you.