Here I am sitting by the banks of the beautiful Swan River, absolutely left gobsmacked by the beauty around me. The sun flitting through the rustling leaves of graceful gums, the hypnotic undulations of water moved by the invisible forces of wind and tide. Nature is heard everywhere but it’s not shouting at you over a 30 second ad spot, it’s pervasive and gloriously understated. Being a warm day the whimsical ‘Green Horn’ tune of an ice cream truck is never far away, actually I think it’s across the river!
What I’m trying to say is that beauty is everywhere. From the microscopic to the grand and everything in between. Not only is beauty in the eye of the beholder but it’s actually more accessible when we stop focusing on ourselves and start by just simply ‘looking’.
As a meditator, the beauty of the breath is available to me any time I wish but I have to stop focusing on myself and start focusing on my breath to find it. It’s ironic that we can breath everyday of our lives yet never know the richness of simply noting the movement of air moving into our nostrils, into our lungs, and out again. Similarly, I find tremendous beauty in the human body in an age where we are constantly critical and demeaning our human vessel. It is only truly possible to appreciate the beauty inherent in our bodies, or the bodies of others until we can stop focusing on ‘us’.
Like love, beauty is all around us, it is everywhere. It could be in the illuminating moment of seeing a child’s curious face, the perfectness of a single flowering lily or perhaps the intoxicating aroma of freshly ground coffee. You may have to look for it a it harder initially, or you could do what I did today, just go out wondering somewhere you’ve never been before. Whether it’s a fresh view from a new pace, or looking at an old view with fresh eyes your reward is the same. Beauty. And that moment of beauty, or moments, is yours to keep, forever.
Now, about that ice cream…
