Two months ago I spoke at the Brain Injury Canada conference and shared a few of the lessons I learned on my path to finding happiness after my brain injury. One of these was how I came to the realization that finding beauty in your every day normal activities brings a much deeper level of happiness into your life. Studies have shown that there is a beauty happiness connection and this is partly due to the fact that your appreciation of beauty taps into very similar emotions that you feel when you experience great happiness. These include a sense of calmness, appreciation and feelings of hope.
I was recently reminded of how big of a part this can play in your mood and morale as well as in your physical and mental state.
You’ve heard the saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yet, why is it that you can sometimes not see the beauty that is all around you? Your mind may be focused on a problem that has been weighing heavily on your shoulders or maybe your thoughts are fixated on either the past or the future, making it impossible to be fully present in the now?
“Learning to appreciate the beauty that surrounds you is one of the keys to your happiness.”
― Tom Giaquinto
I will be featured in a book that will be out next year and the photographer wanted to meet up and capture some images of me. We agreed that it would be ideal to have them taking outdoors. The weather where I live can be really tricky this time of the year and we had already had to reschedule once due to high winds and rain.
Our second attempt began with an early start and we met at a park just before sunrise. We parked our cars and set off walking down the path into a heavily wooded area tucked within a valley. With winter just around the corner, all the leaves had fallen of the trees and I felt surrounded by stark gray empty tree trunks hovering over a ground that was filled with dried grass mixed with a scattering of leaves. I looked around as I walked and wasn’t feeling too confident that we’d be able to find a suitable spot. My immediate thought was that we would just go for a close-up shot and leave it as that.
We soon came across an opening that was overlooking the valley and both agreed it might have some potential so we stopped.
As she set up the camera, I moved into the trees and noticed there were tiny speckles of red rose buds in the rose bushes that lay close to the ground. I kept walking but was thinking it added a nice contrast to the gray and brown colors that were all around me. Further on I saw there were still a few leaves on some of the tiny smaller trees nearby that had not fallen off. The photographer began taking images and all of a sudden a train appeared in the background at the bottom of the valley. While neither of us had realized a train track was there, the colors of each of the cars added a nice pop of color in the background of the shot.
A few minute later the sky opened up and I looked above to see a brilliant blue hue had emerged with a nice blend of soft white clouds scattered throughout it. The light streamed down into the earth, adding a sheen to the few leaves that were still on some branches that almost gave them a sparkle. We began to notice that the sunlight cast an amazing shade against some of the bare trees which now radiated with an almost white glow.
Did you know there is an app called mappiness that allows you to measure your daily happiness?
Now that our eyes were open to seeing, and appreciating, the small signs of beauty, we all of a sudden started seeing it wherever we looked and we got really excited! The lone tree that was on the edge of the hill with its long branches would make a great center piece! The contrast of the soft white clouds against the shade of blue in the sky looked spectacular. A wooden fence that we’d so quickly walked by was now the perfect addition for a shot to help in creating a scene of being out in nature and in the countryside.
Now when I looked closer at the ground I saw white berries in low rising shrubs, an array of tall golden grass stems mixed in with barren branches and the glitter of sunlight across the landscape. What I’d previously thought were rather boring colors had now come alive. Beauty was all around us.
Neither of us wanted to leave, our eyes were lit up with excitement on all the possibilities that were around us, and our souls were tripping the happiness meter!
So the next time you may find yourself feeling a bit glum, I challenge you to look around your surroundings, I mean really look, and seek out the beauty that exists. You will find it. And I guarantee it may just change the way you look at life.
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