Look for the Beauty in Life

I wouldn’t win an award for gardening. Truth be told, my garden is a complete mess. Yet I find beauty in it.

I have bromeliads that yield gorgeous red flowers on a regular basis. I have a bush (which I have no idea what it’s called) that produces a white flower that fills the courtyard with a gorgeous fragrance.

Yesterday I marveled at a small but pretty blue flower in my garden. Most likely it’s a weed, but I don’t care; in my eyes it is beautiful.

What’s the point I’m trying to make?

Look beyond the weeds. Stop looking for perfection; instead, see the colors, the textures, and the intricate details.

If you look, beauty is everywhere.

I’m not talking about beautiful people or gorgeous possessions. This post isn’t about shiny trinkets or dresses you can buy at a store.

It’s about the beauty in nature that surrounds us every day.

If you have a dog or a cat, all you have to do is look into their face to see beauty. Take in how breathtaking they truly are. The movement of a cat’s tail, the precise point where their whiskers begin, and the variety of patterns in their fur.

Watching a cat walk is a thing of beauty.

Be intoxicated by a pink sunset or a full moon. Be amazed with childlike fascination at the wonder of a rainbow and the shape and formation of clouds (without even thinking about the weather forecast).

Look at the trees. Listen to how the wind sounds when it moves through the branches. Notice how each tree is its own musical instrument and the sound of the wind changes with each one.

Watch for the sun shining through an individual leaf. Marvel at a single stream of light breaking through your curtains or blinds. Notice the way the light changes as the day progresses.

Look closer at the flowers – notice their unique color, their petals, and their scent.

Pay particular attention to the animals in your environment, whether it be the geckos happily eating bugs, a single yellow butterfly bouncing from bush to bush, the birds calling each other, or the possums scurrying along the back fence at night.

Beauty is everywhere. It’s in the elements of nature we look at every day, yet so often fail to take it in. We are too busy rushing past it all.

To see the beauty in life, we need to focus on being more mindful. A book that can help is Little Book of Mindfulness: 10 minutes a day to less stress, more peace by Patrizia Collard.