little pockets of beauty
Posted by Melanie on Aug 24, 2010 in cultivating peace, mindfulness | 8 comments
Photo courtesy of a friend
I really appreciate a beautiful garden. I love checking out books on gardening from the library and reading them on my couch, while my yard goes neglected. As an army brat, I never learned and really don’t know the first thing about where you even start when you want to create beauty in the yard.
That’s all changing. In fact, I now understand that it’s not about creating beauty, it’s about revealing the beauty that’s already there. I owe this new found wisdom to, Shar, my gardening mentor/tutor/teacher.
I’ve long wanted to play with someone outside, someone who could teach me, but wasn’t really uptight about how things should be. How do you find someone like that? How does a grown woman ask another grown up, “Wanna come over and play in my yard?”
That’s just what I did. And, Shar said, “yes.”
One of the things I’ve learned from her so far is how easy it is to create little pockets of beauty by “eliminating the negative.” For example, I live in the woods, lots of shade and lots of tree debris. Recently, Shar and I were playing in the yard and she was delighted to find a stump that I’d thought was an unsightly mess. After cleaning away the debris in the stump, we filled it with some dirt, added some moss from another part of the yard, a few rocks and VOILA! A little pocket of beauty.
Where are there hidden pockets of beauty in your life? What might you eliminate to add to the beauty of your life? Perhaps there are old habits, ways of being or thinking that you could eliminate. Perhaps there are virtues you could cultivate. Or maybe a little pocket of beauty could be revealed by your cleaning and rearranging a shelf or a cabinet or your state of mind.
Post a comment and share your little pockets of insight and beauty on my blog.
In any yard there are spots of beauty just waiting ti be reveled. Keep looking around.
Thanks for your inspiration, Barbara. You have inspired me more than once about this!
Beautiful post. I love the idea of removing something to reveal the beauty within. Plus, I love your bravery in asking someone to come over and play. How much fun is that?
I just read a post on another blog that helped me with this Trust Project I’m working on. I wasn’t expecting to read anything else today that would also provide some insight and guidance on the project. Well, I should have been expecting it I guess … ’cause that’s what I got in your post.
Part of the approach on this project is to help people see the story that is; that is only because of the past and the present situation. While so many see much of the present as bad – and much of the past as lost – they are living in fear. They see so much as ugly. In the story approach, we are going to help them see the trust that is already present … present in each one of us. And that is the hidden pocket of beauty; a pocket of beauty that is essential for the rest of the story.
You analogy about “removing the debris” reminded me of a trick I used for myself several times recently. I found that when I needed more direction on ways to move forward that if I looked BACKWARD, to the “beginning” it would hold clues about how to move forward. This was a beautiful image and I LOVE your tree stump “installation”! Cheers!
Love the metaphor of taking something “ugly” and cleaning it up to be beautiful. Applies everywhere!! And I like the new “stump garden” too!
Sue Painter
I think the idea of “removing the debris” to reveal beauty is true in so many areas of our lives. When it is applied to our lives, I think of it as getting rid of “mental clutter” to reveal what is REALLY there–to be able to see all the resources and increase possibilities. Thanks for the wonderful metaphor of the tree stump, Melanie!
The little pockets of beauty really touched me. Especially taking something that wasn’t deemed attractive and with just a few touches was made into something beautiful. I try and see those little tiny pieces and your post will just keep me going and more focused. Thank You