Life truly is beautiful

Life truly is beautiful. I experienced it yesterday and woke up feeling it this morning. No matter how we look at it, we are surrounded by beauty every single day. It’s just our perception of beauty that changes what we see. And our perceptions are coloured by our view of the world.

Yesterday the day started with the sun shining brightly down on us. But the air was heavy. Muggy. Hot. Almost explosive and a sure sign that the beginning of this new day was a prelude to a storm coming our way. Further evidenced by the amount of ants that were traversing our porch. Millions of them trailing up the walls seeking refuge in the roof.

As my family sat on the porch trying to eat breakfast together without ants eating our food and us, we debated about why there were so many ants. Was it because of our rabbit’s goody box we keep on the porch? All sorts of theories were being suggested. And when I suggested it was because the weather was about to change, I got that look that says, yeah right. 

If only we would truly observe nature, we could learn so much about how to be. Nature always forewarns us about its changes but we have lost touch with our ability to read it. Just the mere fact that the day was so muggy, stifling and explosive was a clear indicator that the weather had to give as it could not continue at that pressure or temperature. The humidity so high it felt like the air was soaking. Like the air was bleeding.

And with the ants coming in droves, nature was definitely preparing us for what was to come. Particularly when the third sign came as the light was suddenly sucked out of the day. Actually it was not sudden. If I am honest, it was a gradual asphyxiation but I wasn’t paying attention to it until the light became more like twilight than daylight. The bright sun obscured behind the heavy clouds. Thick, black cumulus clouds.

By the time I drove back into my yard, I had to turn on the lights in my car because it was so dark. Within minutes after arriving safely home, the rains came. At first lightly. Misty like. Until the heaviness and pressure of the atmosphere was too much to contain. The lightning flashed. The thunder boomed. Reverberating through the air. I stood at the window watching the violence of nature not intended to harm, I realized; but to heal. To clear the heaviness of the atmosphere. The thunder storm drawing closer and closer to us. My husband observing that the thunderstorm was huge because though the time between the lightning and the thunder indicated the storm was far away, it was still powerful enough to cause the house to shake and its sound to vibrate long after it had passed.

Though the storm was loud, and the lightening was fierce, I had no fear as I normally do of thunderstorms. I accepted it as a natural part of nature. A part of the process of change. A necessary part to clear the air. To give us some relief from the heat and the ants. And then the storm was over - leaving the air cool and fresh, the lawn sparkling from the wet grass, the sky a moody red by the evening.

As I walked from Mysty’s cage back to the porch carrying her in my arms, I looked up at the sky and was filled with joy, with love, with understanding. Just like that violent thunderstorm had to come to clear the air, sometimes we cannot see the light of day, cannot find our way, but always when we have faith in the process of change, the change that comes is for our benefit. As I felt so clearly yesterday evening looking up at the moody red sky.  I was grateful for the thunderstorm and the rain just as much as I was for the red sky telling me that today would be a beautiful day and the storm had to come to pave the way.

Letting me know life truly is beautiful. Always is. It’s just our perception of it that changes. That colours the way we feel about it. Beauty is always there whether we are able to see it or not. Because beauty just is. Because nature just is. As is life. As are we. No matter what. Namaste.