Four Beautiful Things
Dwelling on the beauty of life
Hi friends & happy Tuesday,
Here are four beautiful things to share this week:
1. Mary Oliver said, “It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in the broken world.” There might not be a greater reminder of this idea than the natural world, which Oliver adored. Me too. Last weekend, Ally and I visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with friends. The cherry blossoms began blooming, and the greenhouses were lush with vegetation. Nature heals, inspires, and intensifies our sense of being.
A calmness comes from viewing the natural world and how fragile this human existence is, on our tiny, blue, wonderful planet called Earth. When I read about the James Webb Telescope and the incomprehensible size of our universe, I remember how much we ought to cherish this life. It’s a miracle worth acknowledging over and over.
About a half mile from our apartment, in a pond, turtles were swimming from one end to the other. The trees were blossoming, turning green, after winter. I love these spring mornings when the air is crisp, the sun is out, and each day is fresh — a renewal.
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.
We can return to the natural world at any point to relax, connect with our roots as a species, and find “awe,” let alone for the myriad health benefits of time spent outside. This time in nature also reminds us to do what makes us truly come alive. We spend much time in the future or the past, looking externally for peace — it’s all a delusion. I catch myself doing it often, constantly swaying between what happened or what could happen, rather than being with the current moment and all its goodness.
Many of us naturally suffer and destroy the beauty of this moment with anxious dependence or worry about what’s next. Part of that is simply being human — we’ll worry a bit, and there’s no point in dwelling on this fact. But when we overdo it with constant plans and busyness and hours of screen time, we rob ourselves of this gift, the present moment.
We can choose that we no longer want to live at the mercy of our devices. We can refuse to be distracted by things that don’t matter so that we may move from analysis to indifference about these things and on to tranquility and peace of mind. We can live consciously, deliberately, and intentionally with every action. Notice the spring flowers blooming, how light sneaks through the window onto the wall in the morning, or how refreshing a cold glass of water can be.
“Every day, we’re engaged in a miracle that we don’t even recognize,” Thich Nhat Hanh said. “A blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
2. “Make something wonderful,” Steve Jobs said. “Think of your life as a rainbow arcing across the horizon of this world. You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear. To know my arc will fall makes me want to blaze while I am in the sky.” All this from the Steve Jobs Archive, a curation of some of his best interviews and ideas.
3. Be cognizant of our constant judgments. We tend to judge, judge, judge. Traffic is terrible, the person who cut us off is selfish, and “I’m depressed,” are all judgments. Last week, my therapist, Christian, cut me off mid-sentence after I had said I was “sad” about something. He suggested I be more curious about my judgments. They can shut us down.
We dove into some judgments I’d been making, which might have contributed to my feelings. “Sad is a judgment that may cause suffering,” he noted. He said to recognize the judgments, and then move forward with acceptance of how you feel. It reminds me of something the author Yung Pueblo said: “Maturity is knowing that when your mood is down, you shouldn’t trust the way you see yourself.”
4. The cycle of life, up close. A couple of pigeons have been living outside our apartment window for months, and now they will become parents. Our resident pigeons, whom we’ve named Basil and Dill, have two eggs about to hatch any day now.
Parting quote: “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”
― Willie Nelson
Parting question: When was the last time you decided to make a big difference?
Celebrate your gifts,
Matthew
P.S. — Thank you for reading and trusting me with these words, a privilege I don’t take lightly. If Inner Peace has helped you in some way, please consider forwarding this email to someone you care about.
Mathew,
Thank you for the elegance in your writing. Like you, I find myself sometimes not stopping to smell the roses. This was spot on:
"We spend a lot of time in the future or the past, looking externally for peace — it’s all a delusion. I catch myself doing it often, constantly swaying between what happened or what could happen, rather than being with the current moment and all its goodness."
Loved the writing and the wisdom. Thanks!