Keep on touching the Marble Floors! Musings on Quietening the Rush.

Some mornings, life doesn’t get off to the right sort of start. You stumble getting out of bed, slip going into the shower, then dribble coffee down your clean new shirt. Right there and then you realize it’s going to be one of those days, so you rifle through your closet trying to find another shirt, one with vibrant patterns that coffee might not be seen on because if you’ve already dribbled forty five minutes out the gate, clearly it’s going to happen again that day.

My day started rather like that this morning, so I went downstairs to pour myself another coffee, collect my thoughts and change gears.  As I opened the fridge, a piece of paper stuck to the door, grabbed my attention.

It read:

“There were seventy-five people in the lobby and only a seven-year-old girl was finding out what it felt like to sit on a marble floor.”

This little gem by poet and bestselling author Hugh Prather was published forty-four years ago in his book, “I touch the earth, the earth touches me.” It’s a wonderful  compendium of similar thoughts and musings. The words were clearly relevant then but today, more than ever, they hit home!

Life is busy! The majority of us are so swept up in the whir of frenzied schedules that we often forget to slow down and simply, absorb the very life around us.

But a child will because a child isn’t on a timeline.  Remember the summers of your youth, when the days seemed to drift on forever, when the patch of blue in the sky was bluer than blue and the clouds, better than the movie theater? A child’s world is bathed in the beauty of sensory appeal.

 

 

And adults? Sensory appeal? Not! Our senses are on lock down! There’s a whole beautiful world out there and we’re missing it. We need a blueprint, a way to work smarter and a way to slow down. But how does one become “STILL” when everything around says “RUSH?”

 

 

There’s a simple solution. Seize a moment. Within a moment, the buzz of life slows down to the instant we’re in. It flows as life should, neither in the past nor in the present but in the here and now.

 

 

Once we begin to stay within each moment, it becomes rather addictive because in the moment, we are simply okay.

Easier said than done? Definitely!

There are countless tomes out there about how to best learn this skill. Our approach at Béazley? It’s an integral part of our philosophy but on those days when it feels as though life is swirling itself into a rapid incomprehensible flurry (which clearly it does) we use a pacifier of sorts!

 

 

We focus on beautiful things.

Sure, you can take a class in mindfulness, teach yourself meditation and ante up on the weekly yoga. Absolutely add those to the list! But focusing on something beautiful, gives our senses that much needed kick in the backside! And when our senses are inspired, we’re in the moment! From landscapes through beings to forms, beauty is all around us. Better yet, it only takes a minute of your time and it’s free!

Stare at your child, your pet or your partner because there is always beauty there! Seek out those sprawling marble floors and gardens with scented flowers. Savour great art, small art, music, texture, the right words stuck on your fridge, you name it!

 

 

 

Once your senses are inspired; contemplate, ruminate, and meditate on the object of your attentions. The aged crackle of an antique bowl, the taste of a ripe plum, the sound of a Puccini aria floating through the room or the leaves drifting over the lake as autumn gives way to cool winter days.

 

 

 

Our very favourite?

Savour the single bloom which has with great tenacity managed to push its way through a crack in the sidewalk because for that moment you are the tenacious beautiful bloom.

 

 

Of course, sometimes it really is impossible to catch your breath until the moment you walk through your door at the end of a long day. That’s why at Béazley we also believe in creating meaningful dwellings. By this we mean, surrounding ourselves with objects which we perceive to be beautiful.

Philosophically speaking, objects, are born from thoughts and ideas that have become form so when you hold a handcrafted piece in your hand, you are intrinsically connected to its creator. That’s powerful stuff!

 

 

The things we collect marry themselves to the room in which they reside. Their proportions together form a greater whole. Being in the moment, in an environment that we’ve created becomes easier because, individually and collectively, consciously and subconsciously, beauty urges us to slow down. It takes us from the here of now, elsewhere. When we create that relationship between object, art and dwelling, we are purposefully creating a harmonious environment, a sanctuary that bears our mark, a place where we can be still.

 

 

It sounds simple. It is. The best things in life are, aren’t they? Ultimately, when our dwelling has meaning, we are happy. With each beautiful thing that we place within our homes, our space and our lives are enhanced. This plays out to the music we acquire and the tastes that we explore. A meaningful dwelling ensures that slowing the rush and being in the moment happens effortlessly.

Even better, you’ll inevitably carry some of that peace into the milieu of your busy day and when you break for lunch?

 

 

Take just a second of your day to reclaim that inner child! Find a marble floor and if you’re brave enough, plonk yourself down and have a moment!