The Cleverest Trick

Rumi Says:



"No better love than love without object,

no more satisfying work than work with no purpose.

If you could give up tricks and cleverness,

that would be the cleverest trick!"


If you can, be sure to see the Berkeley Art Museum's latest show "Create".  It features incredible art work, unselfconscious, true, beautiful, touching, and all done by people with various kinds of disabilities.  They have truly given up "tricks and cleverness" and become amazing artists and observers of life.  Compared to the work of  many "real artists" these folks have a freshness and energy about their work that illustrates Rumi's point beautifully.  Go and see, and you'll feel what I mean.

Smile

Waking up in the morning can be unpleasant in the Winter.  The weather and gloom are strong incentives to pulling up the covers and going back to sleep. 

Spring makes it a little easier.  The sun peeks around the curtains and birds sing.  If you have a thoughtful partner like I do, coffee will be brewing in the kitchen and soon the paper will arrive without my having to move a muscle.  It makes me smile.

On those Winter mornings, or when life is not going my way, my smile has to take the place of the sun and the birds singing.  I grin and bear it, and as I fake it I start to make it.  My grin starts to generate feelings in my body that seem like genuine happiness.  More smiling makes me feel more genuinely happy.  Smiling is so powerful.  It can actually change your mood. 

My son visited Oregon State, and was amazed how friendly the people were. "They actually Smile at you when you see them on the street", He marveled. "It's so different from the curt nods they give you in California. And this is supposed to be the Sunshine State!"

You may only have your smile to share with others, but it's a rich gift!  
A friend sent me a TED talk all about smiling.  Check it out.  You'll discover that your smile is your everyday beauty.  Don't be afraid to share it.  Smile. Right now.  You'll feel better.  You'll feel beautiful, and those around you will benifit too.  Every day.

Phew!

After all my talk yesterday about blogging daily, I almost didn't post today.  So much kept getting in the way of my commitment.  In dealing with all resistance, persistence furthers, so here I am with this photo.

My daily dog walks often take me to beautiful places.  Sometimes there's so much loveliness out there that it's hard to choose just which image I'll use. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and these logs caught mine.  The blue of the lichens, or whatever this is on the side of these dead trees, really struck me.  Not only does their shape and color remind me of barnacles on whales, their presence shows me how much use something dead can be.  The death of everything becomes the food for everything, literally and metaphorically.  Death supports life, and both can be beautiful.

Changes

I've decided to use this blog as a way to discipline myself.  Sounds vaguely masochistic, I know, so to avoid any salacious interpretations I'll tell you exactly what I mean by that.

When I was writing "Messages from the Universe" it was a game that soon became an exciting way to connect with the world around me.  I learned to see things with fresh eyes and fresh perspectives, to look at ordinary objects and fill them with extraordinary meaning, and to re-connect with the feeling I always had as a child that the Universe was talking to me--to all of us, really-- and all I/we had to do was to LISTEN.  Had we the ears to hear I/we would begin to comprehend this world as one of profound purpose and crystal clarity. 

"Messages from the Universe" gave me symbols of guidance when I needed them, a laugh when I needed that, and patience--especially when no messages showed up-- when I needed that.  I learned that everything means something when looked at in just the right way.  I may not see the profound purpose and crystal clarity that I believe exists in the world, but the game taught me that it's there whether I can see it or not.  That was no small comfort.

I've decided now to change my focus a little.  Instead of waiting for messages to show up, I've decided to actively pursue ones of a certain kind.  I'm going to look for something beautiful every day and, when I've found it, I'll put it up here for you to enjoy as well.

My first attempt is this photo of a gate I saw in a neighborhood in Oakland. I just happened to be passing by, and it stunned me.  The stained glass in the openings and on the lintel, the shape of it, the color of the wood. . .  It was such an unexpected treat, and a "Message from the Universe" too.  What it said to me is that beauty often happens when you least expect it, and the gate as symbol? Well, that's just too perfect.

I believe this new emphasis on beauty will be a gateway towards more enjoyment in life.

How?  First, I'm determined to practice my art.  I'm certain that the pursuit of beauty will put me in the right frame of mind to do just that.  After all, if I have to find, record, and post something beautiful every day I'll develop a better and more creative eye as I search.  Plus doing something creative on a daily basis is the perfect way to develop the artistic habit of, well, doing art.  I may not always succeed, but the quest will keep me succeeding more often than not, and putting my intentions out in public like this is further inducement to keeping myself on the program.

Second, searching for beauty in everyday life is a way of appreciating the world more deeply.  Doing the "Messages from the Universe" game convinced me that when you look for something, you tend to find it.  I'm going to focus my attention on the beauty that I know exists around me every day, and I know, even with all the trouble in the world, if I keep looking for the beauty, I will find it.  I'll find it in each and every situation, no matter dismal or upsetting.  Whether beauty lies in an object, a phrase, an interpretation, a lesson, a person, place or thing, beauty, like truth, will out, and I'm determined to see it.

Seeing life's everyday beauty has got to change you. I'm ready. It's an experiment worth trying.

Love,

Kristine