Sustained By Beauty

In the entrance to my home is a photograph of Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsunday Islands of Queensland. Known around the world as one of the most exquisite beaches in the world, the words underneath this panorama say “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” Being in the presence of beauty in mind body and spirit daily is nourishment to our soul. With absence of the connection to the beautiful we loose the doorway to all that sustains us.

The experience of the beautiful has its own maturation process. My first known memories of beauty were as a young child, hearing the music of Tchaikovsky, the Nutcracker, or Swan Lake. And dancing around the living room. I was certain of my ability to dance as beautifully as Margot Fonteyn. My heart was expanded beyond my chest, and I was lost in the magnificence of the music. Somehow in the speeding up of life, I lost this connection. Beauty then became more about glamor. The wanting of the beautiful boy in the movie, or the desire for clothing to look on me like it did in the magazines. Finally, as I came back to finding myself, I connected again to the beautiful, this time more transcendent. At this stage we can find beauty in pain. When I was living in the USA when I was 36 years old, so in love with the beautiful Joseph, and I became aware that the relationship wasn’t going to progress, my heart cracked open in real physical pain. As it did I was aware that one part of me was in awe of the beauty of this moment. Not as some perverted masochistic infliction, but as a reflection of the majesty of life. That I was able to feel so much, so deeply, and that indeed, even though it hurt, this feeling brought me to my full humanness and found within me the reserves of compassion I had not known. Bringing beauty into your life is an essential ingredient of any personal development plan.

What is beautiful to me?

*I find music beautiful, particularly the classical ballets of Tchaikovsky. I am also deeply moved by piano, and adore the pieces by Canadian Leadership expert and teacher, Michael Jones. When I listen to this music my heart chakra really does swell and open. Indeed, if I am in a fear based place, or stressed, or have lost my equilibrium, listening to music, which is now on my iPhone and therefore available to me all the time, really does bring me back into my body and the present, and I find my ground and the stillness inside of me that is not stressed or in fear.

*Poetry and poetical writing. I adore the poetry of the mystics, especially Hafiz and Rumi. Hafiz writes with such cheekiness and fun. Yet his words have transcended common experience to the ecstatic. The words and story of great writers like Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) move me, not just because of the story, but because of the poetry in the word. Beauty is transmitted in every line. A poet hangs around the words to hear what the words might be saying.

*Photography, of many genre’s opens my heart to the beautiful. I remember standing for hours in the gallery of Thomas Mangelsen in Park City, captivated by the images from nature.

*The feel of silk on skin, or dark chili chocolate on the tongue, or the cool ocean over my hot skin after a morning run, the sensation of grass, or sand beneath my bare feet, or the warm sun on my back, or last night, in the heat, the cool breeze; mango juice dripping down my chin.

*The incredible conversations with my clients. When we reach a place of truth, and their heart cracks open, and only the aching honesty is present, these are beautiful moments.

*The Sunday run in the forest with the girls, where often the conversation shifts from the superficial to something deep, as if the time in nature cracks open a doorway to truth.

*Kind words from friends when I am in a broken moment, or their quiet gestures of thoughtfulness.

*The ocean, in all of its shapes and sizes. From flat and calm, to wild, to messy...endless raw beauty is found here.

*That very moment when we find clarity amongst the confusion-when the light comes on.

*Nature itself, in all its guises. The lorikeets that are drunk with honey outside my window, their squeals a messy symphony, their colours stunning. Sunlight on water, an angry sky, the smell of fresh rain on dry earth....

I could go on and on...and as I do I feel so incredibly grateful...just writing about these beautiful moments opens my heart.

A life without beauty is a life without colour, or sound, or touch, or taste. We have lost our way when we have no sense of the beautiful.

Beauty is missing from our work places. It is missing from the environment we are in, the steel and synthetic nature of our surrounds, or from the work that we do..or the people who lead us. A leader who lives in respect of the profound effects beauty has on people will fill the spaces in our work with colour and music and light. A leadership development plan that does not include beauty as part of its core is like building a ship without a rudder. Indeed, this is conversation around leadership and beauty is worthy of an article in itself.

The Greek word for Beauty is Kallos...which forms the root of the word call..or calling. With the beautiful present we are called towards life..and creativity...and passionate work.

Expressing everything I have said in the magical words of Hafiz.. from the book of his poetry, “The Gift”, translations by Daniel Ladinsky...

And for No Reason

And

For no reason

I start skipping like a child.

And

For no reason

I turn into a leaf

That is carried so high

I kiss the Sun’s mouth

And dissolve.

And

For no reason

A thousand birds

Choose my head for a conference table,

Start passing their

Cups of wine

And their wild songbooks all around.

And

For every reason in existence

I begin to eternally,

To eternally laugh and love!

When I turn into a leaf

And start dancing,

I run and kiss our beautiful Friend

And I dissolve in the Truth

That I am.

Tell me of your beautiful moments...

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