Everyday Beauty

I have a fun exercise for anyone who reads my blog. Don’t worry you won’t be embarrassed or anything. Here is a nice poem I wrote to help get us into the mood.

Everyday things, what are you?
The cell phone that rings,
The jeans that you wear?
The pullover sweater,
Or the pen in your hand?
Is it the water bottle you drink from?
The notebook you write in?
Perhaps the humming computer, whirring away.
The plate that holds your food
And the spoon that you use?
Or the table that holds your life together?
A stone on the sidewalk you see passing?
The streetlight or freeway you drive?
Everyday things, everyday places
All around us, all are unnoticed.

Take a moment to really notice what is around you. Here is the exercise you can perform to ground yourself to the here and now. Pick up or find any object you have near you, a pen, pencil, piece of paper, book, cell phone, mouse, anything near you.

Take the object and look at it as if seeing it for the first time, and having no idea what it is or what it is for. What does it look like? How does it feel? Touch the object. Is it rough, smooth, sticky? Does it have any particular fragrance? Spend some time touching, feeling, experiencing what you hold.

Now, try going outside in nature, your back yard, a nearby park, etc, and do the same thing with something natural, a tree, flower, grass, a stone, a brook, or dirt. Anything. Experience what it is, don’t judge it, don’t hold any thoughts but the present moment of nature that surrounds you.

What do you call this? Stopping to smell the roses would work but that’s a tired cliché. Whenever your stressed try this out, when you feel like you need a moment away from the “real” world, experience nature. If your a writer this exercise is invaluable, for you can experience the everyday ordinary as something extraordinary and let your creative mind roam free.

Nature be with you!

PS If you know me, you may have heard me tell you to do this before. :)