Beheld beauty

It is said that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, this questions whether lack of observation means there is any intrinsic beauty at all. It is also said that ‘it has to be seen to be believed’ – in each of these the perception makes a difference.

Quite recently I was in the car park in Sainsbury’s Pinhoe;  it was a grey, wet and cold day (in July!) and there seemed to be very little appealing in the rows of parked cars and unkempt hedgerows. In the midst though I saw the most beautiful, crimson flower, it was almost as if it was struggling to be spotted amidst all the grey. Yet I spotted it! It only took a moment to stop and look, to enjoy. Instead of hurrying into the shop to but more stuff I spent a few seconds to enjoy, to notice something beautiful.

My mind was taken back to the film ‘American beauty’ and the scene where the plastic bag is blown around in the wind, the protagonist says this:

“That's the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it”.

Sometimes in the midst of unkempt hedgerows and difficult times instead of looking for the ordinary and focussing on what is wrong we need to consider what is good – look for the beauty. In it and in the process of looking,  we may be surprised to find the beauty that we discover, not least in ourselves. If we take the time to stop and look and notice. 

I wrote this little ditty to help me reflect and remember what I had encountered.

In the dead rows of hedgerows, today I spotted this.
Midst Audis and Fiats and 4x4 monstrosities.
In the tumble of weeds and exhaust-breathed brambles it lives.
Striving for recognition, pushing away toofast lives, in toofast lanes - shopping or motorways.
Weighed down with pulchritude I stopped and saw and noticed and felt, lighter for one moment.
In the dead rows and hedgerows, today I spotted this.