Refreshment

Beauty

“Beauty does not linger; it only visits. Yet beauty's visitation affects us and invites us into its rhythm; it calls us to feel, think and act beautifully in the world: to create and live a life that awakens the Beautiful. A life without delight is only half a life.”

John O'Donohue

Have you ever taken a “beauty stroll?” It's a walk outside with the intention of being aware of every beautiful detail that your path crosses. I remember as a child, how much I loved the intense colors of the flowers in my grandmother's garden, and the bright patterns of fallen autumn leaves. I would sit on moss growing on the forest floor and marvel at its brilliant green. If you want to feel refreshed, take such a walk. Beauty energizes and restores us.

When you begin to pay close attention to beauty, you will see it everywhere. You don't have to drive ten hours to the beach, or even across town to botanical gardens. You can just amble around you neighborhood and focus your eyes on the small details of living things. Wild flowers on a back fence, surprise tomatoes growing out of the compost pile, mushrooms springing from the rain-soaked ground—all are reflectors of light that enters our eyes and “enlightens” us. Our brains fill with the chemistry of delight. Even if we felt ragged going in, we will come away from our infusion of beauty renewed.

Compare that to sitting on a couch in a darkened den watching commentators talk on FOX or CNN. Not that there's anything wrong with either network; I like to watch sometimes too, but I don't walk away from it refreshed. Today, take fifteen minutes to recharge your batteries in our beautiful world. Mother Nature knows how to nurture your soul.

               In the Spirit,

                   Jane