I see these things with an intense joy, and while I observe, there is no observer, only a beauty that is almost like love.  For an instant, I am absent, my self and my problems, my anxieties, my troubles; nothing but this wonder exists.

-Krishnamurti

During the Italian Renaissance, when that exquisite art and architecture was being produced (think:  Michelangelo’s David, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Brunelleschi’s Dome of the Florence Cathedral, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper—and thousands of other great works), writers and philosophers believed that artists could contact unseen forces and bring the beauty of higher realms into their earthly creations.  Through the contemplation of art and beauty, viewers too could touch its divine essence and achieve higher states of consciousness and well-being.  Down through the ages, others have echoed this way of thinking.

In his book, Beauty, The Invisible Embrace, the late Irish theologian and writer John Donahue said that when we awaken to beauty, we awaken to new ways of being in the world.  We all know that when we are surrounded by beauty we feel stronger, happier, and more peaceful.  But beauty isn’t always easy to find in big cities and the other places where we often find ourselves, such as airports, shopping malls, or office buildings. We have to look for it.  How do we awaken to this call, deepen our familiarity with beauty, and expand our ability to experience beauty in our everyday lives–even when we’re not standing in front of a great work of art, wandering around Rome or Florence, or watching a sunset at the beach?

First, it seems to me that when we come across something beautiful, we need to give it our full attention.  So often we move through our days in a state of distraction—walking down the street while pondering all the things on our “to-do” list; checking email on our smart phones; or thinking about the bad news story we just read in the paper.   But if we keep an eye out, we may surprise ourselves and find more beauty around us than we realize.  I’ve often been nourished by the touch of a cool breeze on a hot day; the sound of piano music pouring out of a window; the sight of sunshine hitting an ordinary concrete building, making it come alive.  I’ve found that by paying attention to beauty when it crosses my path, I’ve gained the capacity to find beauty more often in more places and situations.

Of course we can also bring more beauty into the spaces we inhabit.  The clothes we choose to wear, the way we arrange things in our home, or the objects we place on our desks in the office, all have an effect on our mental states.  And once we start finding and creating more beauty, we awaken to greater creativity.   But it’s not necessary to create any particular thing: Living itself is a creative act.  And living consciously and with awareness can be an act of even deeper creativity.

Renaissance artists and writers looked deeply into beauty, and found meaning in what they saw.  They felt that beauty is a living energy force, and that through noticing beauty, we actually nourish it, just as it nourishes us.  When we take a walk in the woods or in a park, perhaps the trees we are admiring are admiring us back!  While noticing beauty gives us energy, gives us life, when we notice something, we also give it more life and we participate in its expansion and in the enduring creation of the world.