Uh-oh,

Welcome to the Inagural See Beautiful Pop Quiz! Today, you have one question to answer. Good luck.


1. Which of the following choices exemplifies seeing beautiful?

A. You glance at yourself in the mirror and cringe at the reflection staring back at you.
B. You dislike everything you see in your closet, throwing many of your wardrobe choices to the floor after sporting them unhappily in front of your full length mirror.
C. You feel like everyone is judging you and so you go ahead and order the super-sized fries.
D. You make it a point to consciously and consistently recognize the beauty you inherently possess and you carry yourself with that understanding throughout the day, searching for it in others as well.
If you picked "D" you're right. If A, B, or C resonated with you, you're not alone; however, we offer you the opportunity to reread all four choices above to think about which is more fun. Which choice (and it's a choice) offers more happiness? Which choice makes being around others more enjoyable? Which choice makes you feel better? For most of us, the answer is D, again. You know the right answer and this wasn't a lesson taught in school. You know the right answer because it's already inside of you. You passed the pop quiz, it's time you allowed yourself to apply it to your life.

Congratulations, oh-smart-and-beautiful-one!

Let's go on a quick virtual field trip, that also includes time travel (so, happy Monday to you)...
Scene Setting: It's 2002, in a try-to-be-clean-but-can-never-stay-ahead-of-the-dry-playdough-and-finger-paint-on-walls pre-school classroom. Twenty-one three and four-year-olds are sitting in a circle (a shape they know), singing the "Good Morning" song. 

The second-year teacher is beaming with pride at the successful sitting and coordinated singing of all twenty-one students at 7:45 a.m. She finishes the song, off harmony, with the students, because in her mind, "Who are we kidding, we're all off harmony!"

Teacher (pointing to the words, "Today is Monday" written in perfect "teacher script"): Good Morning! I can't wait to hear all about the wonderful things you did over the weekend, but before we do, let's see if we know which day of the week today is.

Teacher, looking expectantly and happily around her morning circle. Children, looking at teacher, each other, the fish they've dubbed "Seven" for no apparent reason, the blocks, the carpet. No response.

Teacher (in energetic expression): Okay, let's see what is written on the board. Oh, this says, 'Today is Monday.'

While teacher's back is turned to the board she hears a gasp that sounds like sheer jubilation. By the time she's turned around, one of her most brilliant (though they're all brilliant) students has jumped into the middle of the circle.

Child (trying frantically to rip her pants off): OH! OH! OH! TEACHER!!!!!! MY UNDERWEAR SAYS MONDAY!!!!

At this point, child has pants down revealing that indeed, her underwear does have the word "Monday" sewn into them, the teacher is frantically leaping across other three-year-old heads to get to the child mid-circle.

Teacher (thinking): Oh, dear. Oh, dear. OH DEAR! I'm going to lose my job! There's a child smack dab in the middle of my morning circle with her pants around her ankles!!!!

Teacher (still trying to get to student...crawling on the floor now): You are exactly right! Now, I need you to pull your pants up.

Child (looking confused): But...but...I matched it. They are the same.

At this point child has pulled her pants up in a defeated-looking manner. Simultaneously the teachers' heart begins to beat again. 

Teacher: I am so proud of you! That was excellent noticing and thinking! Why don't you go sit back down with your friends and we'll see what else we can learn today.

Teacher thinking: Is 7:45 a.m. too early to have a glass of wine?
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We here at See Beautiful can't help but look at the word "Monday" now with a chuckle. If you thought today was going to be your typical ole Monday, you don't know who might be waiting around the corner to catch you off guard.

For this teacher, the "Monday" experience is still the best text-to-text connection she's seen a child (or adult) make in her ten years of teaching.

For you, what "Monday" experience could you have to connect your mind to seeing beautiful? It's unlikely that it's matching your underwear to the day of the week, but that example let's you know there's laughter lurking in the most unlikely places. If we take a moment to look for beauty in ourselves or the world, we often find it...or it finds us.

Happy seeing beautiful!
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Also be sure to check us out on our See Beautiful™ website for ways to join the movement!

Brilliantly written by one of the most inspiring educators, theorist and curriculum developers, Loris Malaguzzi of Reggio Emilia, it honors the beautiful and many languages of children and ways we can honor them:

The Hundred Languages of Children​

No way.
The hundred is there.
The child is made of one hundred.
The child has a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
a hundred, always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds to discover
a hundred worlds to invent
a hundred worlds to dream.
The child has a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and Christmas.
They tell the child
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says
“No way – The hundred is there.”
​
What hundred ways can you see beautiful in the actions of a child today? It's a wonderful task to set about doing.

The following video was featured on viewchange.org, a non-profit that highlights stories of hope and progress. In this video, Bharati Phaked Date, a 14-year-old girl, explains how a bike is her gateway to making change in the world.


To watch the short Pedal=Sight Video click here.


For many people around the world, a bicycle is a toy or vehicle to take you from one place to another. For the ultimate protagonist of her own world-changing story, Bharati's bike represents her ability to change the world. Those two wheels represent hope, empowerment, and change and they carry the mind and heart of a girl committed to seeing beautiful.


Even if you don't have time to watch the video, the message sent is loud and clear. Next time you peel out of your home on your trusty bicycle perhaps you'll think about change and hope and empower and smile because you're balancing on an object that is bringing change into our world.

The organization, We Give Books, is changing the way we think about reading children's literature. If you read books with children (or know someone who reads to children), you're in a position to donate a book to the charity of your choice for every book you read. Here's what you do:

1. Visit www.wegivebooks.org/
2. Choose a book from their FREE digital library of children's books OR choose a campaign to support.
3. Read the book online!
4. Read it over and over again, or pick a new one, enjoying the comfort of knowing that every time you read that book or a new book, one will be donated to the charity you designate.
5. See beautiful in the fact that you'll be part of the movement to donate hundreds of thousands of children's books to non-profit organizations around the world!

If you teach, you can use this site everyday in your classroom. If you're a parent of a child under 10 years of age and reading this blog, you have the opportunity to read a book on your computer, smartphone, or iPad with your child. If you need to deviate from the world of adult reading and want something to read with less than 20 pages, you can read knowing you're donating a tangible book to a non-profit organization.
There is research that supports the more books in a child's home, regardless of his/her parents' education, occupation, and class, influences his/her academic success (Evans, Keley, Sikora, & Treiman, 2010; Light & Pillemer, 1984). Children with more than 300 books in their home receive an average of three years more schooling than children from bookless homes. Further, this finding holds equal across nations (Evans et al., 2010). Thus, We Give Books can bring hundreds of books into a household, school, or childcare center at the click of a button.
Feel free to share this opportunity to see beautiful with any children's book reader or lover you know!

References:
Evans, M.D.R., Keley, J., Sikora, J., & Treiman, D. (2010). Family scholarly culture and
educational success: Books and schooling in 27 nations. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 28(2), 171-197.
​
Light, R. J., & Pillemer, D. B. (1984). Summing up: The science of reviewing research. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.