A Matter of Perspective

I took a drive by the beach this morning. The colors in the sky before the sun comes up over the horizon is in a single word, AMAZING! Just when I think I’ve seen the most gorgeous sunrise ever, another finds me and leaves me with a feeling of complete awe. Such a range of colors appeared in the sky this morning…low and close to suburbia were striated shades of gray and blue, the smoky pale lavender turning pale peach and pink and I’m not done yet…then above that a layer of blue tinged with clouds. WOW! Really gorgeous and driving by the water…it looked like a liquid rainbow reflecting the gorgeous colors from the sky. It was smooth and rippled only where a bird landed looking for breakfast. I wanted to pull over and just stand there until the sun came up but duty calls and I’ve got a complete inability to shirk responsibility. I know, call it a character flaw if you will.

Seeing such beauty reminds me of how wonderful life here on Earth really is. I mean, I’ve had my share of days where all I could see was the traffic, the guy cutting me off or the car moving way too slow ahead of me. Those are pretty dreary days as my consciousness is much too close to home with such thoughts and then I feel bad realizing in such situations my awareness is pretty well shut down. I don’t like days like those but have to admit that they do exist and actually serve a purpose.  If you look back and reflect on such days you can see the contrast and feel the difference between your good days.  When my awareness is pulled in too close, I’m too wrapped up in mundane thoughts and lacking pure appreciation for life…my own concerns consuming me to the point that I’m missing too much on this journey. But, when I can come back to my senses and throw my awareness out far and wide, I can feel the energy flowing in so positive of a way that I can’t imagine not having a beautiful day. It’s all a matter of perspective. How we view life is a matter of our perception. We can go through life with our perception skewed, pulled in tight, narrow minded and just exist or we can throw the doors of our consciousness wide open and reach out way beyond ourselves and drink in beautiful light, gorgeous vistas of mundane things and feel alive, more alive than ever.

I’ve noticed that appreciating beauty can be like a drug only without the negative consequences.  Imagine a beautiful escape that is no escape at all but rather a more finely tuned consciousness on the bigger picture of life. You should try it.  In such moments time seems to stop and information comes in expanded and in larger chunks that take no effort to comprehend at a level beyond words. It’s like taking a mini mental trip down some incredible highway that takes you far away from your concerns and when you “come-to” you’ll find only seconds have passed and the good feeling residue stays with you for a long time. It’s sort of like a good hang-over! It all stems from simple gratitude and learning to see things with new eyes and forgetting about the parts of life that have made you feel jaded. We’re all jaded, to varying degrees. So much in life seems to steal away our energy and close down our hearts and minds but truly, that only happens when we give our consent.  So, rebel I say! Let your current view blur and slip away. See what is really important in life and know there is something bigger and better out there.  The really good stuff in this life is mostly intangible but it is there at any time you’re ready and willing to open up to it.

May your heart and mind be fully open today. I hope you feel love in all of its forms all at once often!

(c) 2008 Jaie Hart (photo/words)