Be Love.

I was completely inspired by a quotation I read in 365 Days of Wonder a couple of weeks ago. It reminded me of lesson #1 from my trip in Thailand, which then reminded me I've been wanting to revisit those lessons now that I've been back in the "real world" (a totally paradoxical thing to say...) for a few months. I have realized my stressors will not evaporate because of my yogic commitment, but I am much better equipped to work through them now, because of my practice.

In most ways, my life is the exact same as before I left. Same passions: job, friends, apartment, hobbies, and for the most part, beliefs. But my outlook on the world and my "inlook" at myself, are wildly different. This may not be something many around me notice, but it is something I feel everyday. A certain lightness within. In my mind I can literally feel the physical space my yoga practice creates in my body. 

I can be a pretty anxious person. I'd love to tell you that my anxiety has stopped since my commitments to self-reflection, asana and meditation have intensified, but that is not that case. I still get anxious, but I am much more able to manage it. When I recognize this feeling, I pause and breathe. I understand it takes time to work through, and I accept that. If I'm in a situation where I can close my eyes, I do. If not, so be it. With my breath I picture myself full of peace and love. I fill my entire being with the love I know I hold within. This gives me strength and a feeling of calm.

In our society, love is completely idealized, commercialized and romanticized. To a certain extent, that works. But I also think it leads many people to believe that their life is not complete until they've found a partner, it turns into a mission: find Love and you've found life. As they strive to find love, people often sacrifice parts of their own being. What we fail to recognize is that we are love. The search is based on falsehoods, because the only place we need to look for love is within. Each and every being on this earth is the embodiment of love. We just don't always honor that within ourselves. So, in the words of Hugh Prather, "Don't strive for love, be it." One of the most beautiful aspects of living your love is that everyone feels it. People are drawn to and inspired by your love. Not your love for something, but rather your ability to simply, whole heartedly be love. 

Beauty.

Beauty surrounds us. The past couple of weeks I have found myself in a continual state of awe due to fall colors, smells and sounds. Everything outside emanates beauty.

It's easy to see beauty in change. It's easy to love the colors, the light and the sounds. This beauty is obvious. But what about the hidden beauty? As the seasons begin to shift, the days get shorter and our vistas appear more barren, it can be more challenging to see the beauty all around us.

I stumbled across this lovely quotation from 365 Days of Wonder, a book of precepts to compliment the truly incredible young adult novel, Wonder. (And I think the reverse holds even more truth.)

We don't need to make beauty within ourselves; we are completely, utterly full of it already. What we need is to pause and allow ourselves to see that beauty. It made me pause and ask myself: Where am I allowing beauty to be go undetected? At what moment of my day am I rushing to get through a task, get home or get my work done? In each moment, there is beauty. We can either recognize that beauty or block it from our awareness. It comes back to Corey Booker's beautiful anecdote, "The world you see outside of you, is a reflection of what you have inside of you." The beauty is always in the world; because the beauty is always within. Do you see it? Do you feel it? It consumes every pore of your being, but you can only reap it's benefits if you recognize it's existence; your existence.

Thanks, Mike for getting my words into that beautiful leaf up top and for taking the picture above!