Do we know how to look or we have lost the ability to be amazed when contemplating a sunset, a balcony full of flowers or the waves of the sea?
In our day to day life,how many times do we stop to enjoy the landscape of our city? A increasingly accelerated existencewrong priorities or the habit of projecting our thoughts into the future without paying attention to the moment They absorb all our attention, depriving us of the pleasure that a row of trees or the sound of rain provides.
The art of looking
ISTOCK
Looking is not a simple activity of the senses, but an art within the reach of any sensitivity. When we look, we create, because we add feelings to what we see.
The beauty It is not an objective quality of the world, but something that human beings contribute with their ability to notice symmetries, contrasts, analogies. Looking is a way of communicating. If we are alert, we notice how what surrounds us challenges us.
A old bandstand in a park o a plaza is not just a circular structure with a cover, but a reminder of a festive pastwhen outdoor music was associated with solemn events or Sunday leisure. By looking, we overcome the barriers of time, jumping from yesterday to tomorrow.
We associate looking with the fact that contemplate the outside worldbut there are also landscapes inside us that only wait for a opportunity to break into our consciousness. Sometimes, a taste or a sound they give us those back images that dozed in memory.
awaken your memories
ISTOCK
A cupcake awakens a cascade of memories in «Down the Swan Road«, the first of the seven novels that make up «In search of lost time«, the monumental work of the French writer Marcel Proust. After dip the cupcake in tea and feel its flavor on the palate, the narrator recovers the landscapes of his childhood in Combray: the silence of the streets early in the morning or the shady garden of his aunt’s house.
Every time I come across the smell of jasmine I recover my summers on the shores of the Mediterranean and not only reconnect with the golden sand and the deep blue of the sea, but also with another way to experience time.
During childhood and adolescence, the three summer months are not ninety days, but an eternity where extraordinary events happenlike the first kiss, the discovery of a book that will accompany us during our journey towards maturity or the glimpse of the vocation that will decide our professional life.
Look in
ISTOCK
Socrates already warned that know yourself It is the first step of wisdom. Today we could add that it is a infinite and necessary task.
Meditate is a form of explore the landscapes that contains our psyche. Melancholy, insecurity, joy, hope, fear, ambition, are landscapes that overlap until they forge our peculiar way of being.
We tend to avoid the emotions that cause us distressbut adopting that strategy only increases our fears. You have to be able to look face to face with sadness and failure. Only in this way will we be able to contain its ravages.
The survivors of the Andes tragedy They managed to find the green valleys of Chile by looking into the distance. Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, the two young rugby players who performed the amazing feat of cross the Andes to seek helpsuffered a terrible disappointment when they reached a summit and saw nothing but snow-capped mountains.
However, Parrado saw two peaks without snow in the distance and decided to continue, despite the slim chances of survival to cold, hunger and fatigue. Yeah we look inside ourselves and we become discouraged when we glimpse only negative emotions, such as skepticism, disappointment or lack of self-esteem, We must look into the distance and think that beyond those obstaclesthere are some fertile valleys that offer us countless opportunities.
How to learn to look
ISTOCK
I don’t think I’m wrong in pointing out that This learning involves getting rid of the fear of wasting time.. By looking we lose nothing; On the contrary, we win. A wise look creates bonds with the world and our fellow men.
The zenith of the art of looking is found in knowing how to look at others and weave bonds of affection, understanding and indulgence. Let’s look at others as we would like them to look at us. we all need recognition, tenderness, affection, tolerance.
A generous look distances us from the impoverishing tyranny of the ego and teaches us to celebrate the joy of sharing. Let’s not delay that task too much. We can start right now, looking up to explore the environment.
If you were interested in this article and would like to receive more about well-being, join the Bodymente WhatsApp channel.