The phrase “look for the beauty in the every day” might be a cliché at this point. Sometimes it feels like a bandaid on a bullet hole, just a trite little expression people slap on motivational posters to distract you from the much deeper issues you’re facing in real life. It can even seem insulting—the idea that all of your problems can be washed away if you just heed the words of the cute talking cat on your guidance counselor’s wall. Life is messy and complicated, and looking at a pretty tree isn’t going to magically fix everything for you, so why bother?
I think the answer to that question requires more than a simple argument. Instead, we need to restructure the question itself.
No, looking for something beautiful is not going to magically fix everything for us, but we shouldn’t expect that it will. Realistically, no amount of star-gazing or music-listening will erase the midterm at the end of the week, or diminish the health problems intruding in our family lives, or remove depression. Those issues are real and deep and they take up a lot of emotional real estate—a sparkly cat can’t fix them!
Still, there’s something incredible about noticing the world around you.Â
When I got back from visiting my family over reading week, I was exhausted from traveling and was suddenly struck by the emptiness of my room. It was such a contrast to the bustle of Thanksgiving that I felt heavy and sad. But I looked outside and saw green and red traffic lights igniting the raindrops on my window, making little points of light. The moon was bright and full even behind the clouds, and when I opened the window I could hear the sounds of the street and rain shivering against buildings and pavement.
Paying attention to the sights and sounds around me helped me ground myself in the moment and feel better about my circumstances. And it’s backed by health professionals too: many health resources recommend the 5-4-3-2-1 Method for calming anxiety or distressing thoughts. The basic description is given in Mayo Clinic’s guide, which tells you to count 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. This technique can help you shift your focus away from whatever is causing you stress and become more grounded in your surroundings.
And you don’t just have to limit this to whenever you’re feeling anxious. You can train your brain to pick up on the things around you when you’re walking to class or getting groceries. It can be little things like a girl that walked past me in the street had an amazing coat. He has cool shoes. The open door to the bakery smells nice.Â
I find it really helpful to pick out little moments around me that I find beautiful. If I stay stuck in my head, I might miss the colourful posters on the lamppost, or the maple leaf stuck to a car windshield, or the way the music swells in my favourite song.
No motivational poster is going to solve all the problems in our lives, and we can’t expect it to. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make our days a little brighter by actively seeking out moments of beauty.