BeautyDialogues

Sense of Adventure

My sister and her 11 year old son are moving to Hawaii (she recently won a coveted job transfer to Honolulu) and my mom is going too, to help care for my nephew.

None of them knows anyone in Hawaii, and my mom hasn't even visited the islands. I have to admit it would take some major cojones for me to uproot myself from all that's familiar and journey 3,000 miles into a new life in the middle of an ocean, but her innate sense of adventure seems to have kicked in and she is sailing forth into this one with style.

My mom will be 75 this year, which isn't that old but it's an age when many of us are pretty stuck in our ways. I'm deeply impressed with her flexibility and strength, and most of all that she's retained a sense of innocence, a sort of child-like trust of life and willingness to be surprised and delighted. That seems to me very beautiful, and I know I'll be calling on her example as I venture forth into whatever adventures 2008 holds for me. 

Solstice Light

My friends at Resonance will be starting the Solstice fire at Coyote Ridge this afternoon for those who would sit in circle around it this night, completing this last cycle of the sun and ritually welcoming the return of light at dawn.

I love the ceremonies and celebrations of this season, which in my hemisphere all seem to gather us around light in one form or another - warmed by both the external lights of electricity and fire and the internal sun of family and friends. This is a good time; a time of gratitude and reflection, and today I give thanks for all the circles that hold me, and for all those I am privileged to hold.

May this next season bring the light of love ever more fully into our lives and hearts; may it give us the capacity to hold ever widening circles until we can hold all of humanity and the earth that sustains us as dearly as our own beloveds.

Vanessa

Remember Vanessa German, the amazing woman I met at the StoryField conference? Well, I'm not the only person who thinks she's amazing... She was invited to present at this year's PopTech conference, and here is a video capture of her performing the magnificent "If My Hands Were Anything Other Than Hands".

Creator of the Universe

"For the world is not painted or adorned, but it is from the beginning beautiful; and God has not made some beautiful things, but Beauty is the creator of the universe." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ode to Light

If you were reading the Beauty Dialogues last year, you might remember I have a ‘thing’ for the lights of this season, and as the cycle returns I find the love affair has lost one of its brilliance.

Every night I turn on the LED lights that frame my front window and sit happily looking at my twinkling, forest-smelling tree. I faithfully lit the Hanukkah candles each night for the ritual 8 nights even though my mother isn’t Jewish and I don’t know the music or words for the proper prayers.

As deeply as I enjoy these personal pleasures of lucidity, something new dawned on me the other day during walk at dusk. I was looking at all the glittering trees and strings of light in my neighbors’ windows and suddenly it stuck me as very profound that we decorate the OUTSIDES of our houses, and place our trees in the window so that others can enjoy them.

On one level, I thought, perhaps these lights are a way to signal and inspire each other with our knowing that the light will return, a collective celebration of gratitude for the beauty and power of light.

Elements of Persuasion

My friend Max, aka Richard Maxwell, co-author of The Elements of Persuasion, has just blogged one of the best 'testimonials' I have ever received about my work. His appreciation was in response to some design support I'd given him and his co-author Bobby, aka Robert Dickman, which I gave because I think the work they're doing is a gift to humanity.

This elegant little tome is one of those works that gets to the archetypal roots of what it is to be a human being. You have to get past the marketing speak of their publisher's PR, but this book, which is ostensibly about how to tell your story persuasively in the business world, is really about the elemental qualities of life; what makes us tick, what motivates us and makes us rise to our highest good, and most importantly how to evoke that in ourselves and others consciously through the stories we tell. Thank YOU, Max & Bobby!

Addicted to Technology?

A recent article in the LA Times by Stuart Glascock describes a nature cure on an island in Puget Sound for what he calls our increasing 'addiction to technology'.

While I would never argue with time spent on Orcas Island, for ANY reason, I believe this article is coming at the question from the wrong angle.

Why Beauty? Morning Thoughts ...

Beauty is the essence of Life - it is the center of everything, the very core of existence.

In a time where facing the enormous horror of what we as humanity have perpetrated in our world can be soul-deadening and overwhelmingly bleak, seeing and being beauty has never been more important.

Beauty is the candle we hold up in darkness. Beauty is the gaze we turn on that which we love, the way we see that can transform our vision. What do you love? What do you find beautiful? That's the key to knowing where to focus your attention.

Beauty, like Love, has the power to hold all that is not itself without being changed. Today, when many of us feel so disconnected - from each other, from nature, from a life where what is really important has priority - Beauty is a way back to center.

May you Walk in Beauty - now and always.

(this glorious image is from an online contest for the 'most beautiful' photo :-)

Beach Walks

Video blogger Roxi Darling has her own version of Beauty Walks... "Beach Walks with Rox: A Little Aloha Every Day!" She ruminates about all sorts of subjects while walking along the beach in Kailua playing with her dog Lexi. 'Secret Cameraman' Shane Robinson is there to video her, and together they broadcast the results online.

They've been doing the Beach Walks for years now, so there are some fabulous archives. I love this one, about the importance of physical exercise for brain function:

37 Days

Another gem sent from beauty-sister Nancy White (who launched her new blog site yesterday!) - this one a joyously inspiring blog by writer Patti Digh. Her blog is called 37 Days, and it's about what we would be doing today if we only had 37 days to live; in other words, what's really important in life.