Resilience through Beauty

For the past couple of years (well much longer than that, but currently in technicolor), life has brought excruciating reminders of how our current systems and ways of being human are not sustainable, are not just, and do not nourish the very earth we are a part of. I have been more quiet during the past couple years than before. I have been practicing medicine, working one on one with many of you, listening to you, hearing the frustrations, the growth points and the deep fears. I have been listening to others as well; learning, reading, and asking questions of myself. I've been exploring what it means to live as love. I share this because I am also exploring what I am most fundamentally living FOR, and what I want to share with you. There are many pain points in the world that need our attention; deeply unjust, harmful, and needing profound healing; and when I am in the depths of it, I feel helpless, and I lack the capacity when I am in argument with life to see how I can heal or be of service. I have been invited regularly to grieve, to feel the depths of sadness, and to allow that grief to carry me deep within to the personal healing that is needed and to the values I hold most dear. I am invited to look outward, sometimes through the tears, sometimes with belly rolling laughter, to see the beauty washing over me in every moment. For, yes, even in the darkest of spaces, beauty is always there. I have come to recognize beauty is the way life nourishes us; through sight, sound, taste, touch and scent; our senses an incredible vehicle for receiving these multitude of gifts. Beauty is the currency of love.

As I hear and read stories of people who have lived in the most atrocious of circumstances, I am in awe of how every one of them speaks of beauty, noticing and not just noticing, but taking the time to write down the way they received flowers blooming in the cracks, ice on a tiny window that is the only portal in a gray cell, suns warmth on bare skin, the smile of another, a resonant poem, art displayed with abandon and hope (often described as graffiti), and the list goes on. What is it about beauty? Why does everyone see, feel, cling to and express beauty, and even see it more poignantly at the times of deepest despair? Why is this universal?

I believe this is because beauty is the very fiber of life, the tangible expression of unconditional love expressed in every moment by the force that creates in and through everything. Just as our cells and organs are all working together in service of the whole, so too is every part of the earth working together in service of the whole. Yes, this includes us, as humans; a vital part of this living, breathing, dynamic, creative organism called life. And, the whole is designed to nourish the parts. As above, so below.

Our bodies have a magnificent, internal system specifically tuned in to beauty. This system impacts every cell of our body and mind (not two by the way - but one vibrant unit); helping us adapt, respond and grow with harmony. This is the role of endorphins. They are the currency within our body, exchanged through the senses, translating the gifts of beauty to our whole being in service to life’s expression. With a robust endorphin bank, we have the incredible capacity to do the hard things, to survive immense hardship. But, endorphins are not only there for those ultimate survival moments. They are there every moment, nourishing the expression of us, in our unique forms, with our unique gifts, in reciprocity with all of life.

Endorphins are always there, within our cells and tissues and cerebrospinal fluid. They are fundamental to life. But, survival and thriving are not the same. I believe we have an invitation to cultivate and support our endorphin activity through attention: disciplined attention to beauty, to our senses, and then to the invitations that arise from our essence nature to bloom and serve in the ways each of us is uniquely designed to express.

This isn’t a magic pill. It is an invitation. It is a path. It is a discipline. And, it bears beautiful fruit. With this practice, we cultivate greater capacity. And, what our world needs right now is humans with their full creative capacity; the bandwidth to heal our own wounds and then bear fruit for our community and earth of which we are a vital organ.

What I am FOR, what is blooming in me, it is to share this path. I feel called to explore this journey with those of you who would like to join me.

Knowledge about the physiology of endorphins and the connection to beauty gives our minds support on the journey. Meditative activity and cultivating the attention to beauty not only builds the endorphin bank but gives our bodies feedback as we learn a new skill and enhance capacity. And, the community support involved in group work offers the power of connection as we not only nourish a healthy endorphin bank for our own well-being, but also explore how this practice shines light on our own essence, and our core values. And finally, the journey invites us to explore our personal invitations to share our beauty with the world. The expression of beauty is not arduous. It is a deep resounding YES to what arises from our core, nourished with endorphins to support us through the more challenging steps, and constantly supported by life itself. Our invitation is attention!

Keep an eye out for workshops being held to facilitate the process of attuning and attending to our senses, to the beauty that nourishes us, and to the practice of attention that allows us to hear our own core values and beautiful self-expression.