You Are Beauty Alive

How are you? No really. Pause. Feel your body. You can blast through this with the numb ache and neediness of the scroll mind, or you can pause. Anchor into the body and then dive in.

This summer I had gave myself a gift for my 40th birthday: I went on retreat with my mentor and a group of super women. On one of the evening sessions, I set an intention to experience beauty. It was a night I will never forget.

What I remember most from that evening of magic, is that beauty is an experience. It is not the length of your eyelashes or the perfect curl of your hair. It is not the dress you put on or the way your home is decorated.

Beauty is the underlying felt sense. It is the place that lives in each of us when we see another person's soul. When we witness an act of true kindness and love. When we pause to see how supported we truly are. When we are honest with ourselves and allow ourselves to feel. When we remember we are alive. When we let down the armor enough to be truly seen, to be who we truly are. When we hold space for someone without abandoning ourselves.

The more willing you are to go straight into the center of anything, the more beauty opens up to you as a force, a power of purity and truth and love.

So yes, shit is rough right now. Really for many of us. And remember the low places have their own seductive way of convincing you they are righteous. Many of us are habituated to the comfort of mild depression, cynicism and isolation. Those are not wrong experiences. Humans have natural lows, and they can become a sort of self justifying landing zone where you circle around and around. It's like one foot is in a hole and you just keep pivoting.

What if we could be honest and face the foot in the hole. Feel it. Directly look at it. And then have the courage and massive strength to pull that foot out. Get support for this. You are not meant to do everything alone.

Now met with the ability to move and the uncertainty of how or what or where... find beauty and let it lead you forward. The vast beauty of this world needs your attention, your devotion to finding it, cultivating it within, and sharing it in your own way.

When we give the being of beauty attention, she grows. In us and around us. Look for the sparkle on the snow, especially if you are cynical. Put on a sappy love song. Dance for 3 minutes. Do a primal scream in your car. Text a friend. Book an appointment with a coach or therapist. Doodle. Eat some chocolate. Buy some flowers. Watch Moving Art on Netflix. Watch your child sleep for a few minutes.

You are beauty alive.

Amy