My father had an idea for a children’s book. He recited the idea to me many times when I was little.
It was to be a story about beauty. It begins with a father saying good night to his daughter.
The daughter is afraid to be alone and so she begs the father to stay and teach her something new.
What do you want me to teach you? the father asks, and the daughter says, Teach me about beauty. What is the most beautiful thing in the world? And just then a snake appears at the window.
In the Western tradition snakes got a bad rap. They were seen as symbols of evil and temptation. But in the Eastern tradition, snakes could represent growth, rebirth.
The snake comes in through the window and takes the daughter and says he will show her the world.
And the snake takes them to the Taj Mahal and the daughter asks, Is this the most beautiful thing in the world?
And the snake says no and then shows them the Grand Canyon and the daughter asks, Is this the most beautiful thing in the world?
And the snake says no and takes her to the top of Mount Everest, and then to the bazaars in Nepal, and then to the temples in Japan, and the daughter says, Which of these things is the most beautiful?
And the snake says, None of these are the most beautiful. I will take you one last place.
And the snake flies the girl back over the fields of Kansas and down a familiar street and through the window of a familiar home and the snake says, Open your eyes and see, and there is the father reading this story to his daughter.
Excerpted from Easy Beauty: A Memoir. For more on Easy Beauty, listen to Rolf’s Deviate podcast episode: Integrating love of travel & love of home (with philosopher Chloe Cooper Jones).
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