SEEING BEAUTY

     If we look at the world with loving eyes, we can see that there's something beautiful in everyone. We have to be attentive and be willing to look, but it's there. I guarantee it. There are the things that are obviously beautiful in others- classic good looks, confidence, stature, long eyelashes, strength, femininity- whatever it is that we readily notice and appreciate. And then there are the things that not everyone can see- woundedness, a particular turn of the cheek, robust hips, a graceful way of moving, trembling speech, wisps of hair at the temple; subtleties of being- energy- something unspoken but sensed that inspires compassion in us.
     Multitudes of people are blocked to their own beauty as well as the beauty in others. They feel wretched, evil, undeserving... But it's there in us all. Even the dangerous are beautiful. Their beauty doesn't make them safe, but it exists in them nonetheless, somehow or other. Perhaps it's in the pain of their childhood story, or in the way they curl up in a ball at night when they are asleep.
     We see what we look for, so let's keep an eye out for beauty in unexpected places. Let's look for treasures in people instead of flaws; for gifts and talents instead of liabilities. If we see the beauty in others, perhaps we can truly learn to experience it in ourselves.

Beauty is a way of seeing. I see beauty everywhere I look!