Seeking Beauty

Where I am fortunate enough to find myself for a couple of weeks, visiting my daughter, is Paris where beauty is so easy to find. Beauty is all around me and if I’m living in the moment as is my goal as an advocate for mindfulness then I have to sit up and take notice of it and the effect it has on me. 

I’ve written in past blogs about the need for beauty in our lives to inspire and uplift us and that is exactly how I’m feeling! I’ve also previously written about how changing routines, like during holidays can make us feel ungrounded and less connected to our spiritual selves. Well where I am right now is a lesson for me in how beauty can be used as medicine for healing and inner-change.

I’ve had time with great friends, had my share of revelry but now I’m finding some alone time with the purpose of re-connecting and grounding. I’m being drawn to wandering… alone, with not always a specific reason or a destination in mind. It’s liberating and an exercise in trusting yourself and the universe that where you’ll end up will be where you are meant to be. This then is becoming the theme of my last weeks away. 

Grounding in the galleries

Wandering in the moment….

Losing myself in time. 

Finding my inner self again after the play…. 

Using beauty to help me get there. 

I’m being drawn to the galleries – so many and of such significance and beauty not only with the works they contain but also the buildings themselves. My favourites have always been the Impressionists whose works so heavily focus on nature. Nature is a ‘go to’ for me to enhance my inner search – art of nature is a natural fit for me.

Wandering the streets – lined with beautiful architecture, outlets to sell treasures or just to revel in their style and browse, open parks and gardens made for strolling and being in nature and the moment! It all brings me home…. to myself.

Beauty to inspire, to ground and to uplift is not only for adults but for children too! Find any place that has beauty – get creative, ask your kids to be creative about places and how they view them but make no mistake with them about the purpose of the excursion – it is to fill ourselves up with the beauty that is around – sometimes in large doses and sometimes small – it all has effects upon us and how we be in our lives, how we feel not only about ourselves but the world at large and the people and things in it. 

What is better than to grow up with an appreciation and awareness that beauty has a positive effect and can be used as medicine. Our challenge is to keep looking no matter where we find ourselves. It’s easy for me right now where I am but I need to keep the theme alive and part of my regular life. It is akin to seeking gratitude about aspects of our lives, no matter how small. It is an experiment in looking for the good things around us and to bring those positive, uplifting thoughts to our inner selves.