Life & Arts Editor Haylie Ross poses out of her car’s sunroof at an outlook spot over Pacific Coast Highway on Aug. 21. This lookout spot is my go-to when I want to see something beautiful. Photos courtesy of Haylie Ross
Love is the breath of life. Love defines humanity. Love colors the world.
Yet, I haven’t always seen it that way. I used to believe life’s beauty had to be earned — chased in milestones, achievements or excitement. But lately, I’ve come to realize, life doesn’t ask to be earned. It simply asks to be noticed.
I want to romanticize life, but I only find the mental capacity to do it if I am doing something out of the ordinary. I have recently made a mission out of cherishing the ordinary just as much as I praise the grand moments of life.
I aim to find romance in my everyday life — not in the overly curated way, but in the deeply human way.
I let songs make me feel like I’m in a movie even if I’m just folding laundry. I treat each day like it has the potential to be my favorite, because — miraculously — some of them will turn out to be.
When I sit at the dining table in my dorm room doing homework with my roommates, I take a moment and appreciate the beauty of friendship and how lucky I am to be surrounded by other ambitious women.
Ross and her roommates pose on the Malibu Pier on Oct. 15. The friendships I have made at Pepperdine are ones I will cherish for the rest of my life.
When I’m driving to the grocery store, I open my window and let the salty sea breeze fill my lungs. I allow myself to reflect on how much I wanted to be right where I am now only a few years ago.
I often forget that being alive is a gift. Not always an easy one, but a gift nonetheless. Even on my worse days where I don’t feel motivated to appreciate anything, I still am grateful to be alive, because I know that even if this day is bad, a better one will come along again.
There are people we haven’t met yet who will love us, books we haven’t read that will move us and moments that will change us.
Ross poses with her boyfriend at a wedding in Seattle on Aug. 23. My boyfriend and I have been together for three years and he constantly reminds me of life’s joy.
I try my best to see beauty not as something rare, but as something constant, waiting to be noticed.
Take advantage of every moment you have on this earth and find the beauty in it.
Kiss a stranger, dance in the rain, laugh over shared memories with friends, cry over a good movie.
Whether it’s falling in love with the walk to your Spanish class, or even falling in love with your soulmate — fall in love again and again.
_______________________
Follow the Graphic on X: @PeppGraphic
Contact Haylie Ross via email: haylie.ross@pepperdine.edu
