In Search of Beautiful Things (and Creative Inspiration): December 2024
31 moments of everyday beauty - photographed by 5AM StoryTalk's readers and curated by me - to help inspire you on your personal and creative journeys
“In Search of Beautiful Things (and Creative Inspiration)” is a monthly photograph series by the readers of 5AM StoryTalk and curated by me. It began as an essay here at Substack, in which I detailed a low point in my personal and creative life, post-international move to London and how a daily ritual to look for and photograph one beautiful thing helped me recover some stability and creative energy in my life. It’s since evolved into a communal exercise I share with all of you through weekly Notes and these monthly articles that collect the beauty we share together.
This brings me to December’s edition of “In Search of Beautiful Things (and Creative Inspiration)”. The submissions I received this time around were pretty evenly split between the natural world and what civilization has wrought, good or bad, on the planet. And so, the theme I’ve come up with is: “Un/Natural”. It’s an enigmatic description, I think, so I’ll let you decide what to make of it and the juxtapositions it provoked as I assembled the piece.
As a special treat, composer
from has selected one of his recent (stunning) pieces to serve as a soundtrack as you peruse these images. “The Wisdom of Trees” can be found on his upcoming album I Stand Silent | six meditations on the lives of trees, which you can learn more about here. Be sure to click on play below.Now, please, enjoy these 31 moments of everyday beauty to get you through December — and thank you to those who shared them with us (I wish I could’ve included every contribution). These photographs come from four continents and nine countries.
DAY 1
Bridgewater, South Australia - Australia
Honeycomb inside a fallen tree trunk.
DAY 2
Søren K. Harbel (
)Turin, Piedmont - Italy
Friendship.
DAY 3
Madisonville, Kentucky - United States
The Wednesday after [the election] walk in the woods.
DAY 4
Astoria, New York - United States
Fall light.
DAY 5
Surrey, England - United Kingdom
Water droplet on a nasturtium leaf in my garden.
DAY 6
(last name withheld)Phoenix, Arizona - United States
DAY 7
Polk County, Oregon
DAY 8
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Canada
I have made my own luck, real-estate wise, and have the privilege of walking to work every day over this lovely river. Sometimes I take pictures, but mostly I just look. Really look.
DAY 9
West Yorkshire, England - United Kingdom
Spotted this little fella on an Angelica stem. I've been noticing snails a lot recently, and I'm taking it as a sign to slow down.
DAY 10
Cato Gilmour (
)Los Angeles, California - United States
Here’s one from my local park, just north of downtown Los Angeles…care to have a seat and contemplate for a bit?
DAY 11
Blue Mountains, New South Wales - Australia.
Window onto another world.
DAY 12
Faure Island, Western Australia - Australia
Old shearing shed [on a] former sheep and goat farm now a wildlife sanctuary run by Australian Wildlife Conservancy (where I work).
DAY 13
Atlanta, Georgia - United States
The day after the election, our office manager brought in rescue kittens for someone’s birthday party. We didn’t ask permission, but nobody cared, and I spent the afternoon playing with these happy little twerps who were so genuinely healing.
DAY 14
Near Salem, Oregon - United States
Silver Falls State Park. We took our grief [over the election] on a hike Thursday. This is en route between Lower South Falls, heading toward Upper South Falls. The hiking was cathartic, and nature was good for the soul.
DAY 15
Joshua Tree, California - United States.
Self care at a sound bath.
Hopefully, this series inspires you if you’re feeling creatively — or even personally — lost and maybe even encourages you to look for more beauty in your own life. If you’d like to join in yourself, be sure to submit your own photographs to be considered for next month’s edition, either via my weekly invitations on Notes or email them to me directly at 5AMStoryTalk@gmail.com.
DAY 16
Southern jungles, Sri Lanka
A cave used in antiquity as a meditation space. Remnants of a clay platform and raised dais.
DAY 17
San Francisco, California - United States
We’ve just got back from San Francisco, so I photographed lots of beautiful things. This photo taken on Alcatraz is one of my favorites.
DAY 18
Berkeley, California - United States
Looking up into the canopy of a pair of redwood trees on a residential street.
DAY 19
Leura, New South Wales - Australia
The gardens at Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa in the Blue Mountains. I had high tea here with some brilliant artists like and Nicola Scott — which was a welcome break from the post-election blues.
DAY 20
By Georgia Bateman (
)McHenry, Illinois - United States
Here’s the beauty I woke up to yesterday… a beautiful fog hovering over everything as the sun came up.
DAY 21
Sante Fe, new Mexico - United States
Saturday Evening. Great friends + good food makes for a great weekend. PS: the cheesecake was "to die for.”
DAY 22
Aurora, Colorado - United States
Maple tree in my front yard.
DAY 23
Tel Aviv - Israel
Taken after an all night party in an abandoned office complex. Remnants of the night life seep into the day.
DAY 24
Near Lambertville, New Jersey - United States
Howell's Living Farm. Set up as an early 1900s farm. Always quiet; rarely crowded. Perfect for my special-needs son.
DAY 25
Annie Wood (
)West Hollywood, California - United States.
Sunset Strip.
DAY 26
DingusChristiana, Tennessee
The joy of autumn.
DAY 27
Kirkland, Washington - United States
DAY 28
Marin County, California - United States
The lighthouse on Point Reyes; San Francisco is out there somewhere!
DAY 29
Canary Islands
I think it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in the last year. We arrived to discover that the apartment we were renting was only a few hundred metres from the volcanic crater that formed and erupted on Cumbre Vieja three years ago. There are dramatic shots of the cinder cone, buildings bisected by the lava flow and new land that the eruption spilled on to the sea; and it was already one of the most stunningly beautiful islands in the world. But it’s this view looking out to sea from the ash-laden forest above the volcano that’s stayed with me the most. Trees striving through the fallen ash, the volcano still faintly smoking below, the tongue of lava frozen over the lower ground and an apple sun shining silver light over the distant sea. I took this on our last day on the island. I didn’t want to come home.
DAY 30
lanchard Washington, D.C. - United States
Ceiling of Great Hall of the Library of Congress. There with my sons two weeks ago; so many things I saw filled me with hope and joy.
DAY 31
Breb - Romania
The village my family calls home. In a land where haystacks outnumber people, the first snow is more than magical, it is extraordinary beyond words.
If you would like to submit a recent photograph of everyday beauty from your life, to be considered for next month’s edition of this series, look for an upcoming Notes call to action from me or email 5AMStoryTalk@gmail.com. Please include:
A hi-res photograph
Your first and last name
The location, even if it’s just a town or county or the name of a mountain range
Any note you would like to include to provide context (these are optional)
The rights to these photos will remain yours, of course, but submitting them should be understood as permission to publish them.
Oh, and spread the word if you can by sharing this article. I will never paywall this series, so helping to signal boost this just makes the experience richer for all of us who choose to become involved.
I look forward to continuing this exploration of moments of everyday beauty with you here at 5AM StoryTalk!
If this article added anything to your life but you’re not up for a paid subscription, consider buying me a “coffee” so I can keep as much of this newsletter free as possible for the dreamers who couldn’t afford it otherwise.
If you enjoyed this particular article, these other three might also prove of interest to you:
Wonderful collection once again. What an amazing planet.
Thank you for including me on day 2. I really appreciate it! I recognize that I am an outlier. One of only two b+w photographs. Thank you very much.