Walking The Beauty Way

Beauty is a life force which sustains us, especially when times are tough. Paradoxically, beauty and the small things which create it are often the first things to go when resources are tight. Yet difficult times demand that we pay attention to beauty if we are to survive and prosper.

The concept of Beauty is a fundamental part of the shamanic tradition I’ve practiced for 22 years, known as the Sweet Medicine SunDance tradition of the Twisted Hairs. The Twisted Hairs say our purpose in life is to walk the Beauty Way, which means many things

I recognize my beauty and give it away without expectation. Each part of creation has its own unique beauty. Whatever form my beauty takes - my ability to fix computers or can peaches or balance a checkbook - I am to give it freely with no strings attached. This of course is the hardest part - to put my shining into the world without attachment to whether you like it, despise it, accept or refuse it.

I commit myself to excellence in all that I do. The Navajo say we create beauty by attending to the small things that make a difference. If you are shearing a sheep, for example, the sheep wants to looks good when you’re finished. If sheared badly, the sheep won’t grow quality wool for you next time and the wool you just sheared won’t make beautiful rugs for you.

We are invited to do each thing as if it were the last thing we would ever do - as if it were the period at the end of the life story we are living now. Carry the sheep-shearing analogy into your own life. What do you do which is essential to your wellbeing (just as sheep are essential to Navajo) which you are doing in a careless way? To walk in beauty means we pay attention to the small things that matter with a commitment to excellence.

I accept death as a teacher of Beauty. Death and beauty are intimately intertwined. You may have experienced how even the prospect of death opens our eyes to beauty. The littlest things we take for granted - the smell of rain, a child’s grin - become infinitely precious. When a loved one dies we are challenged to incorporate the beauty we gained through knowing them, so we become a living memorial to their shining.

My gratitude for Beauty sparks more of it. Beauty becomes an easily renewable resource when we appreciate it. As I take in your beauty, it feeds me. When you see me admiring your beauty you feel more beautiful and therefore become more beautiful and this is true for all life. Everything thrives on appreciation. Gratitude is the springboard which frees the imagination to create more beauty. The recognition that we are surrounded by Beauty lifts us up and releases us to dream outside the box. You have probably noticed that beauty gets a bad rap in our mechanized faster-is-better world. Attention to the details may mean a project takes longer to complete. “Time is money” we say and beauty (in art, music, craftsmanship, meaningful interaction) is “too expensive.” We forget how enlivening beauty is, how essential it is to maintaining hope and the human spirit. Some of the greatest solutions to life’s problems came about because people took time to “do nothing” - to contemplate the beauty that could be and imagine what form it might take.

Walking in Beauty is one of the strongest acts of power a person can make, especially in these times when there is so much turmoil in the world. How can we do it? The Twisted Hairs Elders give us these tips

“The key to living the quality of Beauty is the ability to identify it within the self.” Take a moment to identify your own beauty in all five aspects of self (emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually and sexually). Write it down, draw it, put it in the form of a song or love poem to the self. Put the final product somewhere where you will experience it each day as a celebration of your many gifts.

“A Warrior hunts Beauty.” A warrior (one who is committed to fighting complacency and mediocrity) assumes responsibility for creating excellence. Commit yourself to doing one small thing each day that will make the difference between a so-so outcome and one which is impeccable.

“Deep Beauty comes from within, from the capacity to experience pleasure.” This physical existence is a gift of undetermined length. Allow yourself to luxuriate in the physical: to really feel the caress of a lover, the color of the sky, the smell of the lilacs, the taste of chocolate. Let Beauty feed you in all its forms. You know the expression, “Use it or Lose it?” Give your body a reason to stick around. Celebrate its ability to provide you with a physical experience of the pleasures of this life.

“Thoughts and imaginings of Beauty provide the focus for creating Beauty.” Take time each day to appreciate nature, the events of everyday life and the people around you. Give thanks for these blessings in your life. Then imagine some form of beauty you desire for our world. Stop for a moment and let your imagination run wild. Think the unthinkable. Throw out the “pre-thought thought” about an issue and see what novel approaches you come up with.

In these ways we are blessed by the Beauty above us, below us, and to either side of us, and we leave tracks of beauty behind us as we walk.

Debbie Mast has shared the wisdom of the Twisted Hairs locally and internationally for 15 years. She is an instructor in the Red Lodge program, where students learn the shamanic teachings, ceremonies and spiritual practices of the Sweet Medicine SunDance tradition. For more information visit www.floweringtreelodge.net or call (248) 414-5376.