Last month, I sent out a survey to my subscribers asking for their feedback on Glimsen. One of the respondents asked for practical ideas related to the beauty around us. Thank you! Here you go.
For many of us, life is busy. Our weekly planners detail work, meetings, and meals. Our daily lists might include too much technology, too many errands, and long wait times wherever we go.
Most of us have felt like we are moving through a thick, gray fog. I certainly have. We drift along, with our heads down, surrounded by dullness. But then something comes along to jolt us awake—a tree we never noticed turns stunning in the fall, a piece of art stops us in our tracks, or a piece of music lifts our spirits.
And the fog clears.
How can we capture more moments like that? Moments that wake us up from drifting through the drab and infuse beauty (and color and life!) into a dull day?
Not only can we experience more moments like that but we can be intentional in planning for them. Here are a few quick and easy tips to add more beauty to your life:
• Get up early enough to watch the sunrise. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and find the best view you can. Or if you’re in the car, turn off whatever you’re listening to and spend a few minutes watching and savoring.
• Take a walk in a new place, and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. Snap a few pictures to remind yourself of what you enjoyed or found interesting on your walk.
• Buy an inexpensive bouquet of flowers for yourself, your spouse, or your office. Put the flowers in an area where they will be seen and appreciated by you and others.
• Put art books, postcards, photos, or works of art on your desk, in your kitchen, on the coffee table, or on the walls. When you have a few minutes, look through them (or at them) for inspiration. Rotate the items regularly with new, fresh pieces.
• Listen to music at a time when you wouldn’t normally do so. Check out a new genre and see how it changes your attitude or wakes up your brain.
• Instead of checking your phone when you’re on a lunch break or waiting for an appointment, read from a book of poetry or essays, a classic novel, or some other type of writing that you enjoy. Pay attention to what you like about it. Mark the passage so you’ll remember to go back to it again.
• And, if you’re a parent (or grandparent), teach your kids to look for beauty. One of my daughter’s first words was “faffer”, because I often pointed out the flowers on our walks. Make a game of looking for different types of beauty, and share the joy of finding it with your kids or grandkids. Their sense of wonder just may rekindle your own.
What are your ideas? I’d love to hear them. And if you have any questions that I could address in future blog posts, please leave a comment below.
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