In Search of Beautiful Things (and Creative Inspiration): March 2025
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 March 2025’s edition of “In Search of Beautiful Things (and Creative Inspiration)”. As I began to consider the superb submissions for this one, two things struck me about them: 1) There was wonder and joy and life being lived in so many of them despite the state of the world, but they didn’t suggest any kind of clear theme beyond…you know…beauty. 2) That said, there were an unusual number of circles, whorls, images that suggested something cyclical. This made me think of Ecclesiastes, something this angry atheist rarely does, which is where March’s theme ultimately comes from — “To every thing there is a season”. While we try to endure this metaphorical winter, we’ll have to find a way to live and love and fight back any way we can — even if it’s just by pointing our cameras at something beautiful others might have missed as a way to remind them why any of this matters in the first place. This isn’t merely an act of defiance; it’s an act of faith that every season will pass.
Now, please, enjoy these 31 moments of everyday beauty — and thank you to those who shared them with us (I wish I could’ve included every contribution). These photographs come from five continents and nine countries.
DAY 1
Point Arena, California - United States
View of the Point Arena lighthouse’s 144 steps.
DAY 2
Woodinville, Washington - United States
A young man was passing the time [playing guitar] whose posture seemed just the epitome of the act. It was the first time that I ever asked permission to take a photograph in public.
DAY 3
Pontefract, England - United Kingdom
The beauty of randomness. First time trying paint pouring, and it was so much fun to just let go and see what happened.
DAY 4
Derbyshire County, England - United Kingdom
Tiny fungi and moss on a rare sunny day in the Derbyshire Dales.
DAY 5
Perth, Western Australia - Australia
This is from my son’s graduation at Murdoch University in Perth, one of the largest wooden buildings in WA.
DAY 6
Lincoln Heights, California - United States
A split second after takeoff. From a recent walk in Ernest E. Debs Regional Park.
DAY 7
Dee Valley, Northeast Scotland - United Kingdom
Here is my beautiful Florence, taking her rest.
DAY 8
Tokyo - Japan
Asakusa.
DAY 9
Hertfordshire County, England - United Kingdom
My 9-year-old has been having a few struggles with school recently so I just said ‘what the hell’ and we cut class and went for a nature walk instead. He loved the sun, the green, the trees and the wide open spaces. I loved watching him in all of it. Taken in Tring Park.
DAY 10
Camanche, Iowa - United States
Corvair tail light.
DAY 11
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - United States
Seeing these bird steps in a dusting of snow made my morning today. Burholme Park, Fox Chase neighborhood.
DAY 12
Manchester, England - United Kingdom
Having dinner at Mackie Mayor (before seeing Toto and Christopher Cross 🙌). It’s a former market hall, built in 1858, and I honestly think it’s one of the most stunning eating/drinking places I’ve ever been in. So lovingly restored, and so beautifully lit.
DAY 13
South Coast, New South Wales - Australia
DAY 14
Polk County, Oregon - United States.
A snowy drive.
DAY 15
Amanda Caldwell (
)Corowa, New South Wales - Australia
I would typically send a photo of a natural beauty, but today I saw this wonderful building in Corowa, Victoria. To me, a free press is a thing of beauty. Corowa is where the independent Australian white colonies initially came together to discuss Federation. The Corowa Free Press has a 140-year history of bringing news to its community and still publishes today, one of the few independent news outlets remaining in Australia.
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
Castelo de Vide - Portugal
Message written on paper: “Wishing you all a wonderful journey, in the name of Jesus.”
DAY 17
Waitakere - New Zealand
When my neighbor planted fruit trees close to my fence, I was worried they were going to shade out my vegetable garden...but two years later, two branches hanging over the fence have provided me with over 3kg of plums. I have made delicious STOLEN plum sauce and jam. I love the way these plums look in the morning light.
DAY 18
Adelaide Hills, South Australia - Australia
The subtle colors and random patterns of the Australian bush.
DAY 19
Fort Bragg, North Carolina - United States
I’m in North Carolina while my husband is stationed at the Army base here. He was gone on a training exercise for my birthday, so I took myself out on a morning hike hoping to catch the sunrise over the lake. I didn’t get what I was hoping for, but it ended up being better in a different kind of way. The hushed solitude was a needed detox from the pressures of being creative on social media.
DAY 20
Kreuzberg, Berlin - Germany
I took this on an evening walk around Berlin. Dusk was falling and the light was incredible. You can just make out Venus to the left of the church steeple.
DAY 21
Monroe, Oregon - United States
This is the moon through some oaks. Grabbed this with my iPhone last night, taking advantage of the LiDar and rotating the phone during the exposure. It was such a beautiful cool evening, and this was my way of capturing the feeling of staring at the beautiful sky.
DAY 22
Newtown, Pennsylvania - United States
My new best friend, Kevin the Tufted Titmouse, paying a visit to my feeder. He wants me to remind you that the camera adds 10 pounds.
DAY 23
Richmond, Virginia - United States
Farm pond sunrise.
DAY 24
San Salvador - El Salvador
El Salvador is my second home. This perspective is an overlook of San Salvador, the city, and its volcano in the background, from a popular local gastro-brewery called Cadejo, named after legendary dog spirits Los Cadejos. Every angle of San Salvador has a view, though. It’s a city of vistas.
DAY 25
Sydney, New South Wales - Australia
Blue-banded bee (female, four bands) taken in our garden.
DAY 26
lanchardParker, Colorado - United States
Stumbled across this display in Walgreens the other day. Thought it was beautiful and unexpected.
DAY 27
Sri Lanka
Habarana Lake, February sunset.
DAY 28
Madisonville, Kentucky - United States
Deer tracks. My woods, a few weeks ago during the snowiest day in a few years.
DAY 29
Driving cross country through New Mexico - United States
New Mexico sunset. 20 degrees.
DAY 30
Wentworth Falls, New South Wales - Australia
I took my youngest son stargazing as a way to say goodbye to the Blue Mountains before our move south to Victoria. Here he is before the event, watching the sun go down — the perfect metaphor for our family’s time living next door to the glorious Jamison Valley.
DAY 31
Brooklyn, New York City, New York - United States
Last Tuesday I was waiting at a local restaurant for my daughter’s dance class to finish. I was exhausted and still had my generative writing class to attend that night. Bartender made me a latte and “beautiful-oops’d” the foam to look like a remarkably accurate depiction of a whale — the kind my daughter wants to study when she grows up. It stayed floating in my cup until the last delicious drop!
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!
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If you enjoyed this particular article, these other three might also prove of interest to you:
Stunning collection once again. Thanks to everyone who shared these pictures. Made my day.
Awesome, as ever. Thanks for including my pic, Cole. :)