Walk In Beauty

“There are times when it is hard to believe in the future, when we are temporarily just not brave enough. When this happens, concentrate on the present. Cultivate le petit bonheur (the little happiness) until courage returns. Look forward to the beauty of the next moment, the next hour, the promise of a good meal, sleep, a book, a movie, the likelihood that tonight the stars will shine and tomorrow the sun will shine. Sink roots into the present until the strength grows to think about tomorrow.” Ardis Whitman

 To Walk In Beauty is the concept that we recognize and appreciate the bounty and beauty that surrounds us, and work to live our lives walking our path in the same state of natural Grace… to accept the World as neither “good” nor “bad”, simply the World… rather like the Middle Way of Buddhist philosophy. 

To Walk In Beauty means to step lightly upon the Earth, to find and maintain Balance, to think first of others but to be equally kind to ourselves too. Nature understands this concept, and gives us beautiful examples all the time. But, do we take the time to recognize and appreciate them? Not enough of us do, in my opinion. 

"You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book(Lady Chatterley, for instance), or you take a trip, or you talk with Richard, and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating.
The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness.

Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death.” – Anais Nin

Man, that Anais Nin was one smart lady! I’m always uncovering new bits of her wisdom like this that feel like a bright flash within, a breathtaking moment of Illumination with a unique impact. I see so much Beauty in the World around me that I often forget entirely how how “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem… all the uses of this world!” to so many people shuffling through the routine they have taught themselves. 

 Enjoy the warm bubbles that rise within when you laugh. Sing a little each day just because it's good for you. Wonder at the colors at sunset, be grateful for all that you have, let go the trespasses, annoyances, and doubts of the day and simply give yourself a few moments to breathe in contentment. Taking joy in the life you have been given to live returns positive energy to the Universe. Good moods are just as contagious as bad ones. In these ways, we can spread Light around the world.

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

 The Majority seem to have lost faith in them selves, forgotten whatever they once held to be beautiful and worthy within them, living instead as if caught in some nightmare of boredom, resentment, anxiety, fear, anger or apathy. Our society seems to be wandering in this strange dreamstate, yearning for some unnameable cure to the ache our sleeping masses cannot seem to identify.

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.” Antoine de Saint Exupéry

“It’s exhilarating to be alive in a time of awakening consciousness; it can also be confusing, disorienting, and painful.” Adrienne Rich

Every day more Awaken amid the sleeping Majority. As we Awaken, our vision clears, our desired path becomes more evident, and the Dream comes into focus as a healthy Reality. It’s a long journey for most of us, and the temptation to fall back into our illusory sleep is always there. Ah ah ah, no snooze buttons, please! 

 Sometimes we fear Awakening, just as we irrationally fear Change, or grow weary in our efforts to stay Awake. Don’t worry! Have faith in your self, and the Universe! Nothing truly worth having comes easily. Just keep up the good work, and remember to hold sharp in the focus of your mind the very best you have to offer the World. 

Don’t be afraid to change! Don’t be afraid to let go, and become who you are truly meant to be, to claim and bring to fruition the Divine purpose given only to you. Allow yourself to let go of who you were to make way for the person you are becoming. Most importantly, forgive yourself for the poor choices you made while sleeping, forgive the same trespass of your siblings still slumbering around you, and rejoice that every day, the Awakened come one step closer to becoming the Majority!

Mitakayue Oyasin, Beloveds 

“Most people’s lives are run by desire and fear. Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more fully. All fear is the fear of losing something and thereby becoming diminished and being less. These two movements obscure the fact that Being cannot be given or taken away. Being in its fullness is already within you, Now.” Eckhart Tolle

 “Whatever the present moment contains, accept is as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.” Eckhart Tolle

“You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are!” Eckhart Tolle