Seeing Beauty Stops Aging

“Youth is happy 

because it has the capacity 

to see beauty. 

Anyone who keeps the ability 

to see beauty 

never grows old.” 

― Franz Kafka

Life can be such a rush.  I rush on past the things that bring me most peace and joy, feeling pressed and stressed.  Taking time for a nature reboot, to stop and wonder, to deeply see, to treasure with my senses created beauty transforms the whole day.  

Last night I lost my cell phone.  When I went to bed, I didn't know where it was, but I knew it wasn't at home.  Likely I left in the room where I attended a meeting.  But I could have dropped it on the lawn I crossed in the dark.  It could have slipped into the trash with the paper plates I tossed.  Or maybe I didn't notice that I dropped it in the parking lot while talking to a friend.   This morning I traced my steps back to where the meeting was located.  It wasn't in the parking lot or on the soggy lawn.  Security didn't have it. I couldn't get into the building yet.  It didn't open until my first appointment with a student.  This was not good.  I would need my phone with each morning student.  Frustrated emotions took over my mind.  

Not much later I learned that my husband was able to get into the building and he found my phone sitting on the chair I sat on, and then pushed under the table when I left.  It was safe.  He retrieved it for me, and the rest of my day went smoother.

But what if I had slowed down just a bit and enjoyed the blue skies and the clear fall air?  What if I had walked outside to wonder at the ripening grapes? What if I had watched a bird on the wire singing?  I would have enjoyed at least part of my morning.  

It is time to fight aging with eyes trained on beauty, moments of wonder to keep me young.  Remembering the moments of beauty with creativity will make it a part of me.  

This blog will focus on finding the things to wonder about, beauty to savor and my creative response.