Part 7: Put Yourself in the Way of Beauty

Time again, for the latest heart-warming installment from GM Tahnee... read on.

You can catch up here:

Part 1: Our General Thoughts on Immunity 
Part 2: Relevant Tips for Immunity 
Part 3: Sourcing and Words of Reassurance
Part 4: The Sun Will Rise 
Part 5: No Silver Linings
Part 6: Have We Actually Slowed Down?

I’ve been sensitive lately to how lovely things are, and this passage is one of the lovely things I noticed this week. It seems strange, given the times, to be feeling deeply how beautiful the world is. But it is something that is there for me and is probably a lucky roll of the dice. Maybe you aren’t feeling the same; it seems that the bandwidth of feeling right now is vast and ranges from hope to despair. Hope is probably easier to bear, at this moment in time, but if you’re in despair, maybe these words from David Whyte will resonate:

“Despair is a necessary and seasonal state of repair, a temporary healing absence, an internal physiological and psychological winter when our previous forms of participation in the world take a rest; it is a loss of horizon, it is the place we go when we do not want to be found in the same way anymore. We give up hope when certain particular wishes are no longer able to come true and despair is the time in which we both endure and heal, even when we have not yet found the new form of hope.”

I am sure we can all relate to these words… maybe from a place of hindsight, maybe from deep inside of despair. The full piece is lovely and you can find it here.

One thing I’ve found works for me when things get heavy is to actively turn my attention towards the moment or objects or living beings that remind me of the wonder and beauty of life.

“There's always a sunrise and always a sunset and it's up to you to choose to be there for it,' said my mother. 'Put yourself in the way of beauty.”

These words from Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, which I read when I was pregnant with Aiya and had been a mantra of sorts for me in the past. I absorbed Wild in between naps, on a property far in the Byron hinterland that had no wifi, no reception, no distractions, and at the time, no humans. My companions were echidnas and bellbirds and pythons, and the stars at night lit the sky in a way that brought me to tears.

I remembered this state that had been so natural to me in childhood, to be simply in awe of it all. Of the spider, spinning a web, the bird on the tree, the way the rain clouds gather and rumble, and the torrent on the tin roof clamoring and consuming the senses. Pregnancy was a real portal back into that state for me. So are the practices I commit myself to: gratitude, yoga, and meditation.

My teacher says that to be truly happy we must cultivate the yin qualities of patience, gratitude, and contentment. It’s hard to feel them when we are nose to the grindstone and chasing that which we desire. To embody yin might seem a place of drastic change from where you are at currently, or maybe it’s something you’ve been feeling into as well? Either way, it seems to me that the more we practice this quality of attention, the more we turn towards it on our own, without conscious thought.

It doesn’t need to be grand or deep, and it can definitely be fun. (That’s another thing that Tom Robbins says, that I love, “if it’s not funny, it’s not wisdom.”)

So if you’re up for it, let’s do some noticing this week, friends. Life is slowly becoming more ‘normal’ but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep being weird.

This is a really neat list of things you can do if you’re still going on a walk. (You should, cos it’s really good for you, and it can be really fun).

• Check out the textures all around - notice the textures of the pavement, bricks, pebbles, leaves, grasses, building materials, concrete, whatever you encounter on your walk.
• Note all the animals you see on your walk. Yes, the angry dog next door counts.
• Collect a rock that reminds you of your favorite food.
• Collect a stick that looks like a relative.
• Listen to a playlist and take a picture inspired by each song.
• Ask someone their favorite color, and then collect items and take pictures of things that are the color to give to them.

Inspiration from here and here.

Here are some of the most loved memes from the
SuperFeast Slack channel #memelord

And finally, this lovely quote from Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European to win a Nobel prize:

“I slept and dreamt
that life was joy.
I awoke and saw
that life was duty.
I worked — and behold,
duty was joy.”

I hope that you can find some joy in the duty of your life.

With deepest love,

Tahnee.