My sunny weekend was spent in one of the most beautiful hotels in the country. During this gorgeous leisure time, I gave my care-free mind the opportunity to wander…

“If you want to know where your heart is, look to where your mind goes when it wanders.”

I found all my thoughts revolving around one main, simple concept: BEAUTY

Aesthetics

Beauty correlates with aesthetic experiences. This state of mind involves responses and emotions in regard to different types of aesthetics. It’s like being a part of a collegiate cheerleading team and walking into a football stadium full of 63,725 fans, with loud music playing and loud voices cheering before the big game starts, and the idea rushing through your head that you are part of something important. Or it’s like entering Rome’s Sistine Chapel, where you can silently admire Michelangelo’s most famous fresco paintings on the ceiling and on all four walls of the room, and realizing that since 1503, this art has been a physical display of deep and meaningful thoughts and expressions.

Never been to Rome? Click Here to watch a beautiful short 3D tour of the Sistine Chapel.

The following quote is, perhaps, absolutely true:

“In the life of the individual, an aesthetic sensibility is both more authentic and more commendable than a political or religious one.”

Vacation

The beauty I experienced this weekend allowed my heart and mind to forget about the chaotic world and instead focus on being calm and collected. There is a special kind of balance that can be found when focusing on those calm feelings. This specific luxurious weekend included the following:

• fine dining
• movies
• peace
• country clubs
• sun
• sunsets
• laughing
• massages
• runs
• pools
• reading
• chocolate
• sleep

ALL WITH AN OCEAN VIEW!

The hotel was right on the edge of the ocean with its own private entrance to the beach. It was the perfect vacation. Nowhere to be. No current obligations. Just pure beauty to enjoy.

The best part about this three-day weekend is who I spent it with. Pool days were THE BEST.

I will never forget this beautiful place.

Four Seasons Luxury Hotel, Montecito Eliza Shippen

Eliza’s List of Beautiful Bits and Pieces

I can find beauty in anything. I have a very positive and optimistic personality. But here are just a few specific things that I think describe beauty beautifully 😉

1. Eating home-grown produce
2. Reading in a hammock
3. Holding a newborn
4. Getting rained on and not caring
5. Realizing how young you are
6. Having a healthy body
7. Boating with your favorite music playing
8. The smile of a stranger
9. Being. In. Love.
10. A clean home
11. Falling asleep quickly when exhausted

As this list suggests,

Beauty doesn’t only involve what is appealing to the eye, but also includes what is pleasing to the soul.

This weekend, I experienced happiness. Pure, pure, beautiful happiness.

 

ES