As summer settles into autumn, it seems like life is going sideways. We hear about a new terrorist attack on a more or less weekly basis. We are facing an election that looks more like a comedy show than a serious political race. For many of us, the semester or the work-year is picking up and we are not sure how long we can sustain this amount of activity. The world looks like it’s going to hell in a hand basket. And it is exactly at this time that we need a reminder of why life is worth living. Because only by renewing our own spirits can we find the strength to make good decisions and help those around us who are in need of it. So please give yourself some time this week to think about those things in the world which are beautiful. It won’t make everything better, but it will provide perspective and, hopefully, new courage. Following is a list of five ways to spend time with beauty.
1. Enjoy the Season
As much as some people dislike autumn (mostly due to the fact that it precedes winter), it is a truly gorgeous season. Go out into the woods and compare leaves. Find a few colors that appeal to you and bring them back. The trees won’t mind; they’re forgiving like that. Spending time in nature can give you space to breathe, apart from the rush and the worry and the stress. Watch the sun in the sky and the clouds that cover it. Find the constellations that weren’t there in the spring. Listen to birdsong and the rustles of small creatures in the leaves. Smell the herby green grass and the smoky crunch of the fallen leaves. Autumn will love you back if you let it.
2. Stop and Listen
It doesn’t matter whether it’s listening to a Mozart symphony or a catchy popular song or the wind in the leaves. I often find that I get bored easily with the music that I listen to, but I also find that if I listen to it closely, noting the lyrics and the way the instruments work together and the structure, the songs begin to regain their meaning, what attracted me to them in the first place. Music can be incredibly healing and incredibly cathartic. Find a song that matches your mood or the mood you want to be in and close your eyes and really listen. Music is a beautiful background noise but it is also important to sometimes give it your full attention.
3. Talk it Out
Chances are, the people who care about you really want to talk to you, to hear what’s upsetting you and try to make it better. Chatting with a friend over a warm cup of tea is one of the best things. Friendships are built on mutual trust, and they should be a safe place to verbally process. However, if you don’t feel comfortable talking about what you’re dealing with, tell it to the sky. Write it down. Pray. Anything to get it out of your head so that you’re not thinking about it ever and always. This summer I was having trouble talking to people, and my friend suggested that I write three pages about right away when I woke up, about whatever I wanted. It was a really helpful way to process, and I would recommend it to anyone with a similar problem.
4. Be Silly
This past week I was speaking with a friend who was assigned a number of emotionally draining reading assignments for a class she was taking. However, she found that reading a comic book for fun in her spare time helped her take her mind off of the terrible things she was reading about. Silly isn’t bad. There is a lot of good in letting yourself be frivolous. Read something you loved when you were a child. Jump in puddles and in leaves. Run out into the rain until your clothing is soaked through. Allow yourself to be not childish, but childlike.
5. Take Time to Turn Off
One of my favorite places is curled up with a fuzzy blanket and my cat, watching Netflix or reading a book purely for fun. This seems unproductive. It probably is. But there needs to be balance. If I am doing homework and practicing piano and exercising and cleaning all of the time, eventually I’ll just stop working because I’ll get overwhelmed. And then I’ll be even more unproductive than if I’d allowed myself time in the beginning. So let yourself have an hour or so every once in a while to turn off your brain. Watch the dumb show your best friend got you hooked on. Make yourself coffee with lots of cream and sugar. Force your cat or your dog or your sister to cuddle with you. It’ll be all right. You’ll get right back to it after an hour.
Feel better? All of these seem like silly and unhelpful things to do in the face of what’s going on in the world, but the simple truth of it is that if we don’t take time to tend to ourselves, to rest, we won’t be much of a help to anyone or anything. So there. Now that you’ve rested, now that you’ve remembered how beautiful the world is, go out there and help it.
