Looking out from under my fringe that some would say needs a snip, I adjust my gaze to see the beauty all around. It seems depending on our life experiences, the view of what is in fact beautiful may be distorted.
I don't think it's something we consciouly choose to block out what is, more that somehow we become blinkered and blinded to what we're seeing.
Life isn’t an ugly place.
However we are conditioned to take more notice of the not so great imagery and messages standing out and ever so memorable. Think for a moment of what you're seeing in the news - that is if you're not on a media fast - images of war, terror and violence leaving a lingering impression.
In contrast the beautiful things don’t stand out as much, easy to miss when we're not looking for them. When we do the checks and balances, beauty going on all round. It’s a humbling idea that beauty surrounds us every day, except it’s hidden in the seemingly insignificant parts of our daily routine.
“The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.”
When we're noticing the beauty, we feel the world is a very beautiful place.
Ever seen the humble plastic bag floating in the breeze? Whimsical and magical ... can it really be that simple? Just as we can choose to see the beauty in the floating plastic bag, I find beauty in my morning cup of coffee...I'm a coffee lover. When I follow the ritual to prepare I this cup of coffee the right way, the contents swirl together with the crema foam floating to the surface.
When I'm present, this moment is beautiful.
I do wonder for a moment about my coffee, the people it takes to prepare the coffee from the ground up to those who eventually sell to me. Because of this, I enjoy a fabulous cup of coffee every morning. These people, whether they intend it or not, make my life so much better just by being there...beautiful!
The idea that beautiful things surround us brings joy.
Except many never see, too focused on the tasks ahead of them or the routines in their life to take a moment to connect to beauty.It’s as if with blinders on we only see what is directly in front of us if that.
We can develop a simple habit.
Every once in a while, stopping what we're doing to take a few minutes to look all around, shifting our focus away from the daily routine to check out the surroundings.
It’s crazy what beautiful things we can discover.
Whether it's walking to the corner store, to your office, your car, the beach, walking toward another person, or just checking out nature in it's glory - how beautiful it is.
We can have passed someone or something hundreds of times previously, but never given the situation more than a glance. It was only when we consciously stop to focus our attention, we can recognize the beauty.
The big difference between the negative and the beautiful images happening around us is this.
The negative forces us to pay attention, while the beautiful requires us to seek. There’s a lot more everyday beauty around us than we realize. And choosing to decide to let a little more brightness into a world that can often be deemed as too grey, but only when we allow the grey in.
To get you started I read this piece some time back, not able to recall where and who to credit and it goes something like this...'when I'm out walking I have a little mantra...there is beauty in front of me, beauty behind, beauty above me and beauty below me, beauty is all around me.'
This simple little ritual brings my focus to the present, is comforting and all is well in the moment.
“Everything has beauty, not everyone sees it.”
Make it a beautiful day while creating your beautiful life for yourself and contributing to others.
