Happiness Blog August 12, 2019

Despite the sweltering heat, the world is still a beautiful place, and being alive is a gift, even if it does not always feel that way. One way to connect to the beauty of life on this earth is to seek out places of beauty. How to define places of beauty is deeply personal and need not be what is popularly referred to as a place of beauty. For some, it will be places in nature, for others it will be places of art, and some may think of recreational locations, such as arcades or indoor rock-climbing facilities. It doesn’t matter what or where the place is, just that it is a place you consider to be beautiful and that evokes positive emotions. The goal is to be somewhere that reminds you that there is beauty in the world and that life can be beautiful.

Another benefit of seeking out places of beauty is that it is also a great way to beat the heat. Most cities have museums and/or tree-lined botanical gardens that provide relief from the heat. Getting out into the world with intention of finding beauty changes our mindset and begins to have a transformative effect on our overall outlook. By seeking out beauty, we invite beauty into our lives. Starting the day with the intention of finding beauty opens us up to the possibility that beauty exists all around us. It does not have to be large and over-the-top beauty; it can be as quiet and discreet as a street with a beautiful home garden or a park with a swing set.

Thinking of beauty as a feeling, rather than as an aesthetic, can open our minds to the beauty that is around us in our everyday lives. When thinking of places that are beautiful, think of places that create a feeling of contentment, peace, safety, and joy. If no place comes to mind, think back to the last time you felt that way, even if it was only for a brief moment in time, and consider how to recreate that place of beauty or what type of a place could become representative of that feeling. Embrace your definitions, conceptions, and representations of beauty and incorporate that into what would qualify as someplace beautiful.

Posted on Monday: 12 August, 2019