Always there is darkness and light. In the midst of devastating fires in LA and the impending doom I feel about America’s new leadership, I have also been finding so much beauty in the world.
A couple of weeks ago, I went with my brother to see a Mary Cassatt exhibit at San Francisco’s Palace of the Legion of Honor, in and of itself a striking building in a stunning location. It was raining when I got there, so I didn’t get to absorb the setting until we left, when the sun was shining and the beautiful Golden Gate bridge peeked through the trees.
Like most impressionists, Mary Cassatt played with light and shadow, the element of art which most captivates me. Yet she was more known for the subjects of her paintings, women and children being women and children, which nobody else was bothering to represent. Perhaps she was making a statement in choosing the subjects, but more likely, this is simply who she spent time around, who was available to her. She worked in oils, pastels, and etchings (I learned what those are in this exhibit, and that she invented a new whole new way of doing them). It was an exhibit filled with beauty. And of course, while we were there, we stopped to view the men’s Impressionist paintings, the more widely known beauty of Monet and Renoir and Degas.
This past weekend I met a friend for a walk along the coast near Santa Cruz. The weather here in NorCal has been perfect lately, which brings both guilt for the conditions in SoCal and also gratitude for what we have here right now, knowing this could change for any of us at any moment. I mean, that is what gratitude is about (and beauty)…recognizing that it’s all fleeting, soaking in the good when it is present, appreciating that it is a gift.
So I walked along our beautiful Pacific coast, watching and listening to the waves crash against the rocks. Reconnecting with a friend who I hadn’t seen in years, who had gotten lost in the swirl of busy lives. Beauty in nature and connection.
I also recently devoured a book by Lily King called Writers & Lovers, which was imbued with its own flavor of beauty, the beauty of words and characters and a story well told.
And here is a beautiful thought that’s been in my head this month. During my seven day Prana yoga journey with Adriene, she shared a mantra that really resonated with me, which she repeated in most of the practices. “I am connected to all living things through love and kindness.” I do believe that, and I embrace the occassional moments when I am aware and capable of living that truth.
All this reminds me of my mom’s trip to the Arctic circle last year. She was amazed at how barren the tundra looked from afar, and yet, when they were actually walking through it, they saw life everywhere. You had to look for it, but it was there and it was beautiful.
May you be capable of tapping into beauty in the coming weeks and months. It may sometimes be hard to see, but it is probably there somewhere.