A Beautiful Festive Season

19/11/2006

If, like me, you are an expat living in a country that takes hardly any notice of the festive season, you have to remind yourself that back home, there are decorations and signs of celebration everywhere, including the advertisements and the commercial spin. This experience has led me to be less damning of the Christmas hype, simply because I find I miss it. I asked myself why, and realized that I miss the beauty that is evident in it: a tastefully decked-out tree, for example, even the glittery tinsel.

Beauty is often a seasonal thing, even in our lives, but is it a superficial “optional extra,” a luxury one can sometimes indulge in? No. Beauty and balance in our world reflect and inspire what is beautiful and balanced within. There is an integral relationship between what is beautiful, good and true. We talk about holistic healing, and we know that hard-heartedness, false pride and greed are “ugly,” but I think we need to acknowledge just how much we need beauty. There is a morality that stems from beauty that the great poets and spiritual leaders have recognized.

This integral relationship between what is beautiful, good and true is a piece of life knowledge that science, intellectualism and our rushed life ignore all too easily. Our language reflects a deep knowledge of it though, as when we talk of “getting it together.” I know that I have lived as though I must just first see to this problem or that necessity, and then I’ll have time to create a pleasing personal space. Some day I’ll lose that weight. Won’t it be nice when I have time to explore my poor oppressed instincts and ask myself why they so seldom resonate with my surroundings?

I need more beauty. Not just this holiday, but in the way I manage my life. At this time of New Year’s resolutions, may I invite you to nurture and cultivate the necessary beauty that is in you, the loveliness of your body, the depth of your emotions and the elegance of maturity?

Submitted by melanie Steyn, approved & celebrated writer for kimknightcoaching and an author in her own right.