First, I have a special challenge for you at the end of this post.
Be sure not to miss it. It’s a fun one…
Early this morning while driving to see a client I heard a beautiful quote from Cheryl Strayed on Dear Sugar. Cheryl Strayed is one one of my role models. She’s bad ass. She’s wise. She’s an amazing writer. I love her.
The quote is two fold. And actually it was from her mother:
“Put yourself in the way of Beauty.”
She went on to explain that when she was younger her mother (who died when Cheryl was in her early twenties) used to tell her this whenever she got bummed about life.
She would say “You always have the choice to have beauty in your life. There’s always a sunrise and there’s always a sunset and it’s up to you to decide whether you’re going to be there for it or not.”
Wow. I could probably stop right here and call it a wrap. That could be more than your daily dose of inspiration. But alas, there’s more…
After I heard this I sent this quote to a friend who was feeling “blah” yesterday. Well actually I put it in my own words and changed it around a bit but the gist was still there.
In response my friend sent me this pic:
They decided to take some extra time this morning to walk by the river. In other words they choose to connect with some beauty.
This gave me an idea….
What if all day I simply choose to see beauty? Not only that but to seek it out. To put myself in the way of beauty.
So this is exactly what I did. All day I’ve taken pics of what I’ve found beautiful.
At first I found myself planning the pics I wanted to take. I was hoping I would find certain images that would match my idea of beauty.
I really wanted to find an awesome tattoo or a dope mural but then I realized that this isn’t what it’s about.
This is about realizing that beauty expands beyond our mind’s concept of it. Once I let my agenda go, suddenly everything became beautiful.
Here are some of the pics I took:
Waiting in a parking lot.
The sky at 9am.
This is Brady. He’s the sweetest.
A random chair. Unique. Therefore, beautiful.
Flowers still in bloom.
Art. Always beautiful.
Soy ginger steamer. It tasted like a love cloud giving me a hug.
Really funky sofa
Gorgeous brownstone.
Shot of ginger, turmeric and lemon. Wowza. But beautiful. Look at that color!
Some of you may see some of these and think, well that’s not beautiful. But that’s the best part. It doesn’t matter.
Beauty is about witnessing something that makes you smile, warms your heart, makes you look twice, takes your breath away. But it doesn’t have to be the peaks of Everest or the raging Ganga of India to be beauty.
I’ve seen both and while they are exquisite, there are plenty of things in my own backyard that are worth my eye, my energy and my camera space.
So now it’s your turn! I want to see your interpretation of beauty. It could be anything you find lovely. It just has to be witnessed in real time and not on a screen. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Snap a pic or two.
2. Post it on Instagram and tag me @beyondasana with the hashtag #beautyiseverywhere
OR just email me the pics at Brittany@livingbeyondasana.com
3. Then (if you feel so moved) tag a friend that could some beauty in their lives.
4. Comment below and let me know how it goes!
Something really special happens when you choose to look for beauty. All of the sudden every single thing you see is beautiful. Or at least has the potential to be.
Give it a try! I can’t wait to hear about how it goes.