I often try to bring myself into a practice of gratitude, and it becomes forced and mechanical, merely another task I have ‘to do’ before ending the day, listing things I ‘should’ be grateful for. Toko-Pa, one of my favourite authors, poets, mystics and guides, suggests to instead keep a Beautiful Things list for 30 days. Instead of listing things we are grateful for, it’s a practice of noticing beauty around us throughout the day. I decided to do this for 30 days, and call it “observing what is”. I begin today.
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1. The first day I look for beauty I find none, but my own mind entangled and searching.
2. Noticing the tight holding in my belly and letting it go, soften, expand. I am safe.
3. Escaping the white lights and walls of office into the surrounding forest and dreaming a future of trees and simplicity.
4. Finding a mushroom weeping on the remnants of a dying tree. A beautiful encounter of grief. My friend shows me the hiding spots where we can pick mushrooms and berries, the dark moist crevices where the forest holds her treasures. I know nothing of nature, yet I want to bring remembrance.
5. Some times, joy expands so much that my body can’t contain it. Light spills out of me like a vessel.
6. A glass of pure water and my mother’s voice.
7. Birdsong at dusk and a world unwinding. I promise to breathe myself into deep sleep but my body is awake with anticipation for the morning.
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