When my son was little, his godmother sent him a wonderful book called How to Be by Lisa Brown. In this book, she offers up examples (and illustrations) of how to be a bear (brave), a monkey (curious), a turtle (patient), a snake (charming), a spider (creative), a dog (friendly) and a person (brave, curious, patient, charming, creative, friendly and yourself). I love how this book represents the virtues through the actions and characteristics of animals. And how it doesn’t explicitly gender them.
As of today, I’m embarking on my own creative project of illustrating/exemplifying some virtues that I think are essential for human flourishing. This morning, I crafted my first digital virtue, Beauty/Joy. It’s inspired by footage I took of my daughter at the playground yesterday. I’ve tentatively titled this example “beauty/joy” but, after thinking through it some more, I might hone that title a bit more in the future. For now, here it is: