Yesterday morning I experienced the amazing power of beauty. I’ve been gardening for the past few days, and have a bit of a sore back. Getting out of the car at the shop in the morning, several days of bending, digging, lifting, and squatting were really haunting me. As I walked in to the building thinking about my dreadfully sore muscles, the most curious thing happened. Right outside the shop entrance is a magnificent Knock-out Rose bush in full bloom. And in this case, the name fits — as I saw the glowing red bush I was so overcome by the beauty of it, that the pain vanished. The feeling of beauty is so overtaking, that a trifle like backache doesn’t stand a chance. Isn’t that crazy! Then — and here is the punch line — as soon as I stopped looking at the roses, my muscles started complaining again. So these are the roses I’ll be using in the Venus painting — the ones with the power over pain.
