Go Your Own Way: Finding Beauty in the Ordinary

This past week has been a lesson in patience. After my fifth back surgery, I found myself forced to do something I rarely allow — to slow down.

With nowhere to rush off to, I began the quiet ritual of morning reading. Two essays found their way into my hands — one from Ralph Marston titled “Go Your Own Way,” and another from my friend, author Jim Dodson, called “One Man’s Simple Life.” Both reminded me that life’s richest moments rarely arrive with fanfare. They slip in softly, like sunlight through a half-open curtain.

Marston’s words carry a kind of steady wisdom: “Take a small corner of the world and make it beautiful.” That line alone could serve as a creed for any artist, gardener, or neighbor. We don’t create beauty to impress; we do it because it changes the way we see the world — and the way the world sees us.

Dodson’s prose, meanwhile, paints a Sunday morning picture so vivid you can almost smell the coffee and hear the distant train. His writing reminds us that joy lives in the rhythm of ordinary things — tending the garden, walking the dog, or simply being awake to the moment.

As I’ve moved gingerly through recovery, I’ve found that stillness has its own rhythm, too. There’s grace in each small act — standing, stretching, walking the length of the hall. Every step is a brushstroke on the canvas of healing.

Three Reflections to Carry Forward

1. The Art of the Small
Greatness often hides in small things. A moment of laughter, a shared meal, a finished task done well — these are the brushstrokes that color a meaningful life.

2. The Freedom of Going Your Own Way
To go your own way is to live without apology for what brings you joy. It’s a quiet act of courage — to measure your success not by recognition, but by fulfillment.

3. The Healing of Doing Well
Whatever we put our hands to — whether a painting, a paragraph, or a patch of soil — doing it with care turns necessity into gratitude. There’s healing in that.

Closing Thought

I’ve often said that art is simply awareness with a brush in hand. This week, I was reminded that living works much the same way. The world doesn’t need us to move faster; it needs us to move with intention — to go our own way, and to make it beautiful while we can.