Dear Ones,
We are pleased that so many of you are taking time to ‘smell the roses,’ as the saying goes. It is so important for the human soul to take time to enjoy beauty, to be present to the beauty that is surrounding life, and to share beauty with others.
When you are immersed in your work or your problems to the exclusion of what is around you then you are not living a fully human and conscious life. There is beauty in every moment, somewhere in your vicinity. Look for it. Is it the magnificence of the sunrise or sunset? Is there a beautiful hummingbird at your window feeder? Can you see a child’s perfect smile or hear an older person’s knowing laugh? Is there a color nearby that looks beautiful to you? Did you hear music that you love or see someone who made you smile or enjoy your pet today?
You do not have to look far to find beauty. But what if your attention is focused on what is NOT beautiful around you? What if you are struggling or looking at clutter or tired of drab surroundings? What can you do?
Do you realize that to live a Conscious Life you must be the one who chooses where to focus your attention? Just because something pops up in your awareness does not mean that you must linger with that thought or focus all your attention on it. This is the first lesson in stilling the mind for meditation. It is not that you must expend effort in trying to keep thoughts from arising in your mind, for your mind’s purpose is to bring thoughts into your conscious awareness. Rather, it is your lesson to learn to allow the thoughts to drift through your awareness without your attaching your awareness to them. Just as you allow clouds to drift across the sky, so can you allow thoughts to drift across the sky of your mind without trying to cling to them or hold onto them in your awareness. Letting go of thoughts so that they can drift through your consciousness allows you to deepen relaxation into the meditative state.
When you are not meditating, you can choose whether or not to attach your focus to the thoughts that are drifting through your consciousness. Ask yourself, ‘Is this thought that I am having the one that I wish to focus on?’ If the answer is ‘No’ then shift your focus. If you feel that this is too difficult for you to do, then look for the beauty around you. Hold the thought in your mind with the awareness of the beauty that is there for you in that moment. Allow both thoughts to be in your awareness. Can you find a way to understand, in that precious moment in time, that whatever problem you have in your focus is counterbalanced to some degree by an element of beauty that also exists in that moment for you? This is true in every moment, no matter what the problem is that you are facing.
Beauty is important in life so that you can see beyond the troublesome energies that try to bombard you. The media, the naysayers, the negative commentaries, the news – all are trying to get you to focus on something that drains your energy and takes your focus away from beauty. But you are conscious human beings. You have the ability to choose where to place your focus. You can seek beauty where other forces would have you see only negativity.
There is tragedy in the world. There are uncomfortable things to see and experience. But there is also always beauty. Watch a raindrop slide down a windowpane and wonder about Nature rather than curse the thunderstorm. When you are feeling lonely go out and smile at a stranger or two. There is beauty in the faces of other people if you but look for it.
Surround yourself with beauty in your home. Is there a peaceful place where you can enjoy looking around you? Have you created a haven of beauty that allows you to shut out the outside world? If not, create that haven as soon as possible. Use Beauty to create peace for yourself.
And remember to look for the beauty in every moment, even if it is just to look in the mirror and see the perfect human being gazing back at you!
And so it is.

