Day 304, Monday, November 4, 2024
Inspiration
Seeing
There is sheer joy in seeing. Watch nature through the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, the clouds, the ocean, the river, the waterfall, the lake, the flames, the crackling sparks. Whether you are a child or a ninety-year-old, you can never see anything better.
How can one learn to use visual skills to the utmost? Start observing nature and art any day, any time. The details in painting, sculpture, architecture, and crafts will surprise you. Take in the sense of composition, color hues, gradations, and visual balance. See artworks viscerally. There is no logic to what you learn thus but you will begin to appreciate the world around you with new understanding.
Whatever style or period of art charms you or touches your heart, keep looking at those works. Let them overwhelm you. Digest every nuance and every little thread. Let them hit you in the stomach.
When you encounter a great work of art, it thrills not only your sense of sight but also all your senses, emotionally and intellectually. But it takes time and self-training to be able to derive this level of sensory delight from seeing.
Journal Prompt
Try living your life with your eyes shut for half an hour. Okay, fifteen minutes? Ten? How does it feel? Spend the same segments of time looking at one natural or art object. What new thing did you discover?
Today’s Practice
Meditation: “Body”
Read, reflect, and journal.
Jennifer
Good morning, Madhu! Since autumn is my favorite season, I allow myself extended walks and sitting time outside just observing the leaves change color and watching them fall on the slightest breeze. Now, though, with the majority of leaves having already fallen, I find myself feeling disappointed in the end of the colorful show. I’m going to use your prompt to observe and appreciate a bare tree, to find awe in this transition between autumn and winter. Thank you!
Madhu B. Wangu
Good Morning, Jenn!
What an awe-some performance each day of autumn plays for us! Floating leaves dance in slow motion as they fall toward the ground. We still have tree branches lush, laden with leaven. But I love the meditation you have set for yourself–to observe a bare tree and find awe in the transition from one season to the next. Wow and wow!
On another note, I did not add my observations to today’s Inspiration because yesterday we had already reflected upon Seeing and Being Seen. I did not want to repeat the same ideas. Thanks!