There’s one thing that always serves, in my experience, as a road in to the river of bliss, joy and gratitude:
Beauty. Beauty puts us in the emotional state that best describes enlightenment.
Beauty is as essential to your soul’s journey as food and water are to your body. It sluices you into delight like a lemon makes you salivate. It’s medicine for the blues, for dissatisfaction, for weariness and ennui.
We live lives of luxury, compared with those in the many other parts of the world, and certainly other times. This is our both our blessing and our challenge.
I have a friend who talks about her problems as “privileged problems”—and they are, but being further away from barely surviving does not lessen the intensity or importance of our spiritual growth. Growth comes through challenge, and one type of challenge does not “holier than thou” make!
That’s where there’s been so much confusion and misunderstanding about vows of poverty being holy, about great artists being “starving artists.” I could go on and on.
It seems like having a life of ease would make being joyful and grateful a done deal. Not so. Those things are only momentarily connected. You feel joyful and grateful when you arrive at ease after being under duress. But as soon as you become accustomed to the ease, dissatisfaction can creep back in, as the natural cycle of desire sets in. So riches, ease, and not needing to work do not necessarily lead to enlightenment.
This is why beauty is not a luxury item. It’s not something to be put off until “you can afford it.” Beauty doesn’t have a price tag. It can be as simple as a spic and span bathroom, a unique soap dish you love, a bar of soap that feels and smells luxurious when you wash your hands. An orderly closet, a combination of colors and textures that makes you feel beautiful. The sensory delight of sitting down to a beautiful plate of food. Strains of music, whether it calms or makes you wriggle.
Beauty is in each and all of your senses. And yes, it’s in the eye of the beholder.
But it is not, I repeat, beauty is NOT, a luxury item.
Coach’s Challenge: Where’s the beauty for you? Visit each room in your home, let your eyes take a tour, and pick out the things (or experiences) that give you that little frisson of delight. (It might be an item of clothing, your favorite mug, or it might be the bathtub!) WARNING: Beauty flows. It doesn’t stay the same. Because something is beautiful to you today does not mean it will always be. When it stops being beautiful for you, it’s time to pass it on. Just because you loved it once, does not mean you have to love it (and keep it) forever. Go with the flow. Let it in, let it go. Believe me, it makes it that much more beautiful.
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