Finding and Growing Beauty

Finding beauty is mostly a matter of looking for it.

We are blessed to live in a beautiful, abundant world. The question is whether we are looking for beauty. Or are we too busy, distracted, or hiding within our fears and hurts?

Today I am marveling at the cool crisp weather with lovely temperatures, low humidity, and clear skies. The birds and I are happy. They’re singing while I’m typing and listening, wondering what they are saying. Maybe they are simply happy to be alive and don’t question everything like I do!

Finding beauty in nature is easy for me.

When I traveled around the country visiting national parks, the amazing vistas inspired me to take photos and share the joy of what I was seeing and feeling. Originally I needed the grandeur of big scenic views to inspire me. Gradually I learned to find beauty in the smaller details of life, like my own yard.

Even my suburban yard has a surprising number of treasures. We tend to think of our yards as a uniform blanket of green, yet they are filled with an astonishing variety of plants. Mixed in with the dreaded bermuda grass are dandelions, wild strawberries, clover, thistle, and many more plants that I can’t name. Yesterday, I noticed tiny white, yellow, and purple blossoms in my yard. And this year, an abundance of oak seedlings are sprouting in my yard.

My flower and veggie beds are filled with miracles; watching seeds magically sprout, grow, and blossom. Sometimes beauty comes unbidden like the lover in a Rumi poem. Recently, a pair of warblers have decided to call my yard their home. I am blessed with their constant singing. Who knows when they will fly away to spread their joy elsewhere. In the meantime, I enjoy and appreciate them.

Human consciousness comes with challenges and blessings. We have the gift of choice. The challenge of choice is in the responsibility for the outcomes. I’ve blogged previously about the amazing power of choice. If we pay attention, we can learn from our choices. They can become seeds in our growing awareness for the ability to create a better life, one day and one choice at a time. That’s the part I often forget, imagining or demanding that it all happens now! Gradually I’m learning to relax, allow, and celebrate the small steps toward a better life.

In our lives, beauty is more like a garden that requires fertile seeds, good soil, water, sunshine, and time. I’m learning to be more patient and more open with myself, others, and life. Using my lessons from nature to grow beauty. Some days, I allow past hurts and failures to cloud my mind and emotions. Other days, I remember that I can water the garden when there is no rain. I can plant seeds of love in my life, showering my friends, family and coworkers with kindness.

We must choose to look for and create beauty in our lives. Ultimately we harvest the bounty grown over time with our choices in thoughts, feelings, and actions. I hear the birds calling me. It must be time to go enjoy the 2 doves playing outside my window.