Feeling holiday stress one day last week, I set out to find some shri.  Shri means "radiance" in Sanskrit and can also be translated as beauty or that which is venerable or inspiring.

My search led me to my basement where I grabbed my ice skates and then took me to a nearby wetland pond. With fingers numbed by the subzero wind chill, I laced the skates. Head down into the wind and feeling doubtful about my adventure and search, I glided out onto the smooth ice. 

With long strides, I warmed up enough to look around.  I heard a rustling sound to my right and stopped to gaze in that direction.

My eyes met the eyes of a graceful doe, not 30 feet away. I imagined she had been roused from her bed in the reeds or interrupted in a drink from an unfrozen patch at the base of the cat tails.

As I started to skate along, she bounded next to me. We continued neck to neck for several hundred feet before she veered off into the wetland.

Guess I found my shri. Didn't have to look too far. Still inspired days later,  I'm  finding shri in every person and  beautiful thing around me.