Finding Beauty in the Ordinary
There is a Japanese philosophy called wabi-sabi – that has it’s roots in Zen, revering austerity, nature and the everyday. Wabi-sabi is a state of consciousness. Beauty hidden in the aesthetic or feeling experienced between you and something in the world.
Being ‘wabi-sabi’ is to be true to ourselves, and happy with who we our. It is trusting in our intuition, it is making time for enjoying what is most important to us in life.
It is living in line with our values. Stripping away all that is unnecessary.
It is seeing the beauty in the ordinary, in the tiny details, in the things that make up our days, and our lives. Embracing a simplistic life – releasing the need for materialistic goods.
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you
because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.
Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
~ Roald Dahl
Seeing the beauty in your everyday life is a key step to living joyously. We are surrounded by beauty all of the time – we just don’t always allow ourselves the time to notice it. There is beauty in the sunrise, in tears, in a hug from your child, the flowers they pick for you, in music, in love, in friendship. In opening our eyes and slowing down to notice all of this beauty that we are surrounded by, we allow our hearts and our lives to be filled with beauty.
We do not need to go searching for it, we do not need expensive clothes, fast cars and fat wallets to live a beautiful life. It is all in the detail.
Because I am actively searching for something inspiring around me every day, I see more and more beauty around me. The way in which we look at the world altars what we see. We forget that we have the power within us to change our perception. If you go out looking for all the bad, sad, unhappy things in the world, then that is what you will find. If, instead, you look around you at all the good things, all the beauty and all the joy, then more of that will come your way. When I started looking for beauty in my life, I stopped taking things for granted. It also helped me to slow down – The poem Leasure says ‘what poor life this, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare’ and this is so very true. We get caught up in the hectic pace of life and we miss out on all the beauty in our lives. We are so busy wishing for this or that, or yearning for something adventurous or glamorous… we forget just how blessed we already are.
What did you see this morning when you first woke up? Did you notice the beauty of another day? Of the sunlight streaming through the window? Of birds singing their morning song? Or did you stumble out of bed, not noticing anything before your first coffee?
As Buddha said “We don’t see the world as it is, we see the world as we are.” If we are depressed or unhappy, than we don’t see anything of beauty in our lives. If our soul is happy and we are at peace then almost everything seems beautiful.
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Erinydwi
September 26, 2013 at 22:37This is what I keep telling people but no one seems to understand! :(
Eli
September 27, 2013 at 01:22What a beautiful post. We need to be more observant, not rushing too much. xx
Kimberly
September 27, 2013 at 14:43This is so true! I always try to find the beauty in every day life. It would be a wonderful world if everyone thought more like this.
Natalie
September 28, 2013 at 13:13Beautiful post. Been thinking this last week that life doesn’t seem very beautiful at the moment. I know I have work to do ;) xxx
Chic Beauty Academy
September 30, 2013 at 13:19I couldn’t have put it better myself. Some people are so obsessed with self promotion that they tend to forget about the important & beautiful things in life. There is a whole world out there to explore and some people are acting like robots. Not me though, your post has bought me inspiration :)
Highlights of 2013 - Enchanted Pixie
August 7, 2015 at 12:43[…] We found beauty in the ordinary […]
Dan
May 6, 2017 at 04:53Thank you for sharing this! I was researching how to find more beauty in our lives for a book review that I just wrote (http://regroovemeditation.com/reviews/secrets-of-the-lost-mode-of-prayer-by-gregg-braden-book-review/), which I found your article on Wabi-sabi. It led me to the Buddhist philosophy of impermanence. Thank you again for this beautiful post :)
htoomyat9
September 29, 2018 at 12:54Thank you for the inspiration! This is so beautifully written.