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A thought of beauty

Bharat Savur

Writer Tony De Mello tells the story of Little Fish, keen to explore life, surging into the waves. In search of the Great Ocean, she swims north, south, east, west ... in vain. Finally, she comes upon Big Wise Fish floating serenely, ``Big Wise Fish, may I ask you something?'' asks Little Fish. ``Sure!'' says Big Wise Fish. ``Can you tell me the way to the Great Ocean?'' asks Little Fish. Replies Big Wise Fish, ``You already are in the Great Ocean''. And Little Fish wails disappointedly. ``But, this is only water!''

Interpret De Mello's message in its entirety. Merge Little Fish's beginner's excitement of `live each day as if it were your first' with Big Wise Fish's masterly `this is Shangri La!' and we get the marvellously motivating: `Bring the beauty of sunrise i nto every day of this, our magnificent life! Indeed, without the charge, comes complacency; without contentment roars in restlessness.

An eternal blooming of the human spirit in beauty perceived and absorbed. In life, more so in the business life, California researchers say, ``the overshadowing of the beauty-concept by the bottom-line'' contributes to emotional and physical distress. Th at is, ``learning to appreciate beauty produces practical outcome in the everyday world of making a living, by making a life worth living.''

Mark my words, seeing beauty in a day is experiencing the strong forces of fitness and health because beauty also contains physiological force. `Aesthetics' in ancient times meant `I gasp'. A thought or thing of beauty is a balance of energy-in-harmoniou s-order. Nobel Prize laureate James Watson narrates that when he and his partner finally arranged the base pairs as the model of the DNA molecule, they smiled at each other with wordless excitement and complete contentment. ``We know that a structure thi s pretty just had to exist,'' concludes Watson simply.

The bottom-line blues syndrome stems from a mind excessively engaged in categorising, classifying and judging, say psychiatrists. A break-up that leads to a breakdown of feelings and a sense of being overwhelmed. Whereas, appreciation knits feelings with its fine perceptions of delicate impressions and distinctions and forges `a differential focus on the positive' -- an approving acknowledgement of the background of harmony that prevails, reassures and strengthens when the foreground appears scattered w ith fears.

A relatively new health science `biophilia' holds the affiliation of the human body, mind and spirit to nature's splendour as the key to wholeness. ``A deep, genetically based emotional need to affiliate with the rest of the living world.'' In fact, psyc hologist Dr C. Thoreson refutes that there is anything abstract about `spirit' or the `spiritual'. ``Spiritual means `of the breath' in the widest sense,'' he believes. ``Spiritual is that force that promotes breathing, feeling, alive, living fully.'' An d appreciating beauty is like planting a living, breathing garden in the mind's fertile soil.

Appreciating beauty when we are struggling against a deadline or bottom-line requires suspending the critical little voice of judgement in our mind that says it's madness to stop and look for a glimpse of sunshine amidst storm-clouded skies. That same vo ice scorns at doing ordinary things like relaxing, slowly sipping tea or smiling at the water-cooler. And again, it's that same voice by its nagging that ultimately squeezes the joy out of our professional life too. For, while at the right time, it organ ises, energises directs us to our responsibilities, its over-dominance is what makes a whole ocean appear like a puddle of water! It's like a do-gooder who advises, helps and then ultimately tries to rule and live our life for us!

To cultivate and exercise the spirit, the breath, the garden in our mind is as important as exercising and developing the body. In his book, Skills for Excellence, L.S.R. Vas urges not to take life for granted but cultivate it wholly, ``Imagine that toda y is the last day of your life,'' he suggests, and then, answer these questions:

* These are the things I have loved in life...

* These experiences I have cherished....

* These beliefs I have outgrown,

* These ideas I have profited from...

* These convictions I have lived by...

* These things I have lived for...

* These insights I have gained..

* These things I regret...

* These are my achievements...

* These are my life's unfulfilled desires..

Underlying these questions is the wholeness of beauty -- of a life well-lived and to be lived better in wholeness. And often, it's the last day that brings in the fresh unfolding perception of the first day -- that it's a beautiful ocean, this life. Not to be frittered, but lived wholeheartedly.

The writer is the co-author of the book, `Fitness for Life'.