Exploring Beauty Within

Here is what John O’Donohue says in his book Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, about the beauty of the flaw:

“The beauty of the true ideal is its hospitality towards woundedness, weakness, failure, and fall-back. Yet so many people are infected with the virus of perfection. They cannot rest; they allow themselves no ease until they come close to the cleansed domain of perfection. This false notion of perfection does damage and puts their lives under a great strain. It is a wonderful day in a life when one is finally able to stand before the long, deep mirror of one’s own reflection and view oneself with appreciation, acceptance and forgiveness. On that day one breaks through the falsity of images and expectations which have blinded one to one’s spirit. One can only learn to see who one is when one learns to view oneself with the most intimate and forgiving compassion. Such a glimpse of one’s essence can utterly rejuvenate a life and enable one to find the hidden wisdom in the beauty of the flaw.”

We begin to understand that if there is beauty in flaw and in struggle then there is beauty everywhere. In fact, it is part of the essence of both human beings and life, earth and air, spirit and imagination. We spend much of our modern lives belittling beauty or separating ourselves completely, unable to take in the divine nurturing it offers our soul, our minds and our lives.

Is there space for you to expand your daily dose of beauty? Can you imagine a more aligned way of living your life that prioritizes feeling and being moved by simple beauty that surrounds you each day?

There are many ways to practice acknowledging and nurturing your ability to live within beauty, to offer invitation to others, and to enrich the world with the spill over from your filled vessel.

Here are 5 things you can do creatively to cultivate the presence of beauty:

1)     Go for a walk. Decide before you begin on a colour you will focus on. During the walk keep this colour in mind and notice each time it appears. Take in the colour. Take in the fact that all the colour ‘noticings’ have been around you all this time and were waiting for you to slow down and see them. Check in with how you had to slow down and get out of your own circuit of thoughts to track something so simple and inconsequential.

2)     Pick up a leaf, twig or some object of nature you see as ordinary. Sit with it. Study it from all angles. Stay with this for at least 5 full minutes, preferably longer. Then sketch it with any pencil or pen you have on hand and on any piece of paper you find close to you (not something important…done that, it’s not good). Notice any surprises. Notice your breathing and stress levels. Simply notice. They don’t have to be at a certain level.

3)     Find a poem. Read it 5 times. You can look up a poem on the internet with a key word or theme or author in the search or you can go to the library or book store and stretch out your hand in the poetry section, open any page and read what is before you. Reading it over 5 times allows the beauty within the shell of words and meaning to hatch and unfurl its wings against your beating heart.

4)     Sit across from somebody that you care for and without them realizing it, deeply notice them through each of your senses. As you share a conversation, coffee or silence, tune in with your eyes to see them in detail and in broad view, notice their scent, their sounds, how they feel under a soft press of you hand, what taste is in your mouth as you spend focused time with them. Take time to slow down. Notice without judgement. Take the experience in as if your senses were offering nurture to this person and in turn being the conduit to receiving nurture from them.

5)     Put on a piece of music like ‘Alongside the Meadow” by Sebastian Zawadzski (spotify/youtube/etc) and dance your wounds. Just move. Move into the gestures and story of your wound. This is for you to witness, for your body to be acknowledged and to acknowledge this wounded part of you. Move with simple gestures, starting small and slow, expanding as you feel what the story requires, finding some sense of beauty in the ability to express, to feel and to release some layer of the wounding that has stayed or regrown within you. As the music ends, find a way to release a little more of the stagnant energy and inhale the beauty available in the moment. Sit in silence for a few moments more, staying open, staying with your body and the permission to be here now. Repeat this as necessary, allowing the wounding to evolve, dissolve or heal in whatever way it is ready to do.

And Now Just Be.

Notice the beauty in the smallest of moments, in the perfection of a breath and the strength in opening your self to possibility.