Tag Archives: joy

Seeing | Beauty everywhere

“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.” These words from Plato may be one of the most quoted phrases ever. It has morphed more commonly into, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Either way, we all know its meaning. One person’s idea of beauty may differ widely from another person. We look, judge, categorize and label everything around us.

Perhaps we all see everything through a pinhole lens. My Hart Haiku post Beauty Defined | How We See delves into the attributes we immediately assign to that which we find beautiful or ugly. One of our challenges is to broaden our perspective; it makes for a richer life experience.

Startlingly, I realized during my travels that I DO have an unconscious rating system for landscapes. That’s right, the scenery I see around me. You see, I’m an artist of landscapes. A certain picture of “beautiful” has evolved in me for many years.

How did that change? I began to travel. I removed myself from seeing the same old view, over and over again. Particularly a little dirt road in Australia taught me about seeing beauty in a broader way.

Beauty beholder,
open your eyes wide, look deep.
It’s everywhere.

Inspirational Quotes:

“To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Each person is worth the value put on them by the affection of others, and that is where popular wisdom has found that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” ~ Machado de Assis

“Beauty begins in the eyes of the beholder; Reality ends in the mind of the observer.” ~ Joey Lawsin

“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Most of my beholders are blind.” ~ Basith

“The beauty of life is in the eye of the beholder. Open your minds eye and see the true beauty of life. Rid yourself of the negative, and rejoice in love and consciousness.” ~ Kenneth G. Ortiz

Seeing | Beauty everywhere © Susan L Hart 2019 | Hart Haiku

Dragon Sprite | Being light

The magical dragonfly is a fond girlhood memory of summer. Paddling around the lake on sultry afternoons, I loved to watch their iridescent colors flitting among the graceful lily pads. They captivated me.

Legends abound, particularly among indigenous peoples, about the symbolism and teachings of the animal world. They believe that the Earth speaks to us through all living creatures.

Being named after the legendary dragon, there are many meanings (including lightness of being and symbol of change) attributed to the dragonfly in various cultures. More reading on dragonfly symbology here: The Meaning of a Dragonfly: What Does a Dragonfly Symbolize?

Or, simply sit back, relax, meditate on the beautiful photo. And like the dragonfly, be light.

Inspirational quote:

“…What if the point is to stop, then,… and listen to the birdsong, to watch the dragonflies hover, to look at your lover’s face, then up at the undersides of leaves moving together in the breeze? What if the point is to invite these others into your movement, to bring trees, wind, grass, dragonflies into your family and in so doing abandon any attempt to control them? What if the point all along has been to get along, to relate, to experience things on their own terms? What if the point is to feel joy when joyous, love when loving, anger when angry, thoughtful when full of thought? What if the point from the beginning has been to simply be?” ~ Derrick Jensen, A Language Older than Words

Photo courtesy Pixabay, Pexels

Dragon Sprite | Being Light © Susan L Hart 2019 | Hart Haiku

Artful Soul 2 | Monet

Monet v.s. Van Gogh. Is it a competition? Paul Gauguin, one of their (also famous) peers thought so. The quote below is from The Met Museum website:

In November 1888, Van Gogh wrote: “Gauguin was telling me the other day – that he’d seen a painting by Claude Monet of sunflowers in a large Japanese vase, very fine. But, he likes mine better. I’m not of that opinion.”

Critics had earlier praised the “brio and daring” of Monet’s technique when he showed this still life, depicting sunflowers that grew along the pathway to his garden at Vétheuil, at the 1882 Impressionist exhibition.　

For me, there is no competition. I find them both beautiful and interesting for different reasons. Monet’s sunflowers are softly idyllic and otherworldly, Van Gogh’s are harder edged, quirky, and less refined.

These two sunflower paintings perfectly illustrate that there are many ways of looking at the same thing. One is no more “good” or “bad” than the other, which is duality thinking and narrow, part of the problem in our world right now. They both demonstrate creativity. In fact, both artists were attempting to break out of the mold of what was deemed acceptable in their time.

Any renaissance requires taking a wider view, thinking outside of the box, breaking the rules. There are several definitions of renaissance. In fact, Monet and Van Gogh did not paint during the Renaissance art period, with a capital “R”. I am talking about the general definition:

A revival of or renewed interest in something. ORIGIN from French renaissance, from re- ‘back, again’ + naissance ‘birth’ (from Latin nascentia, from nasci ‘be born’).

We have become lazy thinkers, too inclined to follow the crowd and the consensus reality. Our world badly needs a renaissance in creative critical thinking, a broader perspective, a fresh way of looking at things. I’m sure both Monet and Van Gogh would concur. 😉

Claude Monet, “Sunflowers”, 1881

Vincent Van Gogh, “Sunflowers”, 1888

Artful Soul 2 | Monet © Susan L Hart 2019 | Hart Haiku

Wild Interlude 1 | Essence

Walk into this beautiful scene, just for a moment.
Feel the warm sun drenching your body.
Breathe deeply the sweet smell of green on the soft breeze.
Hear the gently trickling, soothing water.
Relax your muscles, and your mind. Go to that place in yourself that is wild and unencumbered.
Remember the essence of you.

Inspirational Quote:

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature, the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ~ Rachel Carson

“Not just beautiful, though – the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And they’re watching me.” ~ Haruki Murakami

“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.” ~ Ruskin Bond

Photo courtesy Brandon Montrone, Pexels

Wild Interlude 1 | Essence © Susan L Hart 2019 | Hart Haiku

Free Spirits | Your essence

There was a time in Hawaii – I’ll never forget it – when the ocean spoke to me of freedom. A storm was blowing in from Japan, and word was that within a couple of days the surfing would be stellar. My partner and I awoke at midnight to the thunderous sound of pounding waves. Makena Beach was several miles away, so we leapt into the car and raced over to check it out.

Makena is about 2/3 of a mile long, wide and undeveloped. It is not a main surf beach; the big surfing happens elsewhere on Maui. But, the waves were uncommonly large for Makena that night. There were no man-made lights, save for several small dots twinkling way off in the far distance.

Uncommon wild beauty

When we arrived, the scene that lay before us took my breath away. The beach and the water were lit brilliantly by a magnificent full moon. Light clouds flitted in and out in the strong breeze. The rolling huge waves frothed white in the blazing moonlight, crashing wildly on the shore.

We took our shoes off and walked. The beauty and power of the scene were intoxicating, and my soul was unleashed in a way I had never experienced before.

Nature speaks to the essence of me

I felt what it means to be just a human being on the Earth, and the inherent freedom of my soul. For just a little while, the pulse of nature ran through me like a jolt of electricity. I felt the wildness and joy of my essence. I was completely alive, and I did not want that feeling to end.

The wild, untamed places discovered in my travels without fail have this affect; they speak to my soul. And I have come to understand this:

Our essence is freedom, and we must never let that go.

Nature’s Power | Live in now

Mother Nature has many magic potions up her sleeve. In this case, the haiku message is her power to help us develop the art of mindfulness – that is, immersing fully in the moment. When we walk in a nature area and pay mindful attention to all the beautiful details, our mind monkeys (worries about the future, regrets about the past) tend to fall away, at least for a little while. We start to understand the true power of now.

I like the points made by the Mind and Life Institute in this article: An Exploration of Nature, Mindfulness and Well-Being

A little exercise for you: Next time you go out for a nature break, observe yourself. I have gone for entire walks so wound up in my thoughts, I really do not see much at all. There is a big difference between “looking” and “seeing”. When you make a conscious effort to really see what’s on your path, mindfulness comes into play.

Artists | Your soul food

In this modern technological world, some might say that art is pretty useless. After all [they might ask], in a society that prays to the almighty dollar, what true value does it really have?

My reply to them is, “Plenty”. Why did the fire that destroyed part of Notre Dame trigger an outpouring of worldwide sorrow? It was not just about religion or sacredness. Artists and their work touch our souls, in ways that many may not readily see or accept. They raise our lives up above the mundane.

Art speaks to our souls

Some artists paint simple pretty pictures; others create at the level of grand vision and spectacular works of art that the whole world embraces. And, is one any more important than the other? If the little painting rendered by a child touches your heart, it is magnificent in its way as any famous masterpiece that may do the same.

Artists and art are about heart and soul. So I would argue, in this modern but ofttimes cold technological world, we need them now more than ever.

Hart Inspirations

Susan L Hart, Author

Tag Archives: joy

Seeing | Beauty everywhere

Dragon Sprite | Being light

Artful Soul 2 | Monet

Wild Interlude 1 | Essence

Free Spirits | Your essence

Nature’s Power | Live in now

Artists | Your soul food

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this: