Questions

What memories do you have of beauty? How are beauty and freedom related? What am I learning passively, simply by showing up to think about beauty every day?

Reflection

What memories do I have of beauty?

Two things come to mind immediately, when I think about memories of beauty: The Sierra Nevada Mountains, John Muir Wilderness, and the Ohio night-sky.

Both of these are intimately connected with freedom for me. Freedom, in this case is the absolute awe of looking into the infinite, and knowing yourself as part of it.

Looking into the night sky gives this feeling. The mountains give this feeling.

This is a feeling of ease and expansion, of beauty and purpose, of connection and intimacy. This is a feeling of knowing that Life is infinite, all-encompassing, and eternal. It is the feeling of being in that Life, of feeling that Life in you.

This is an experiential feeling. It is not something that my words will convey, unless you have had a similar experience of your own. If you have, remember. Remember your experience of beauty and freedom. Feel it with me,  in your own way, through your own experience.

What do I learn passively through attending to beauty daily? I engage this awe, this feeling of freedom, this feeling of Life within and around me. As I engage it daily, I draw it to me on every level of experience.