What is beautiful here?

Overwhelm is fast and flooding. It is easy to get caught up. In moments when it feels irresistible to see everything that is cruel and wrong in the world, when those things feel acutely injurious, I like to ask myself: what is beautiful here? The answer is usually minuscule and sensory: a green bud, the smell of garlic, fresh laundry, a neighbor's gentle smile-- some fact of aliveness, attention to the present. It isn't exactly a mantra but I use it as one to tap me on the shoulder and pull me back into the expansiveness of interconnection.

Plenty of artists have made small moments of attention into their practice. This Walser/Dickinson show that was at the Drawing Center is a beautiful study in smallness; the catalogue is worth some attention.