Not in the Eyes of the Beholder

I have recently come to the conclusion that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, but rather in his or her heart. The story of the 'masters hand' comes to mind. A weathered and damaged violin is to be auctioned off, but no one is interested because of its condition. Then the master comes and reveals the beauty he sees in the violin.

What I see in a flower is merely a reflection of how much I care about the flower. Likewise, the way I treat the flower is only a reflection of how much I care about the flower. The master cared about the violin because he understood what it truly was and how much it could do.

Those things in life that we think of as beautiful are almost always the things that we care about. The things we do not care about we see as being of no importance or of little or no value. Therefore we treat them as though they are without value.

Often, I think many of us find ourselves undervaluing the people around us, and the less that we value them, the less we care about them. We find ourselves walking right past them when they need a hand, or being able to look right at them and not even see them - figuratively and non-figuratively. The worst, but perhaps most common occurrence of this lack of care is in our homes. So often we stop seeing our parents, spouses, siblings and children as people. We start seeing them as problems, as mess-makers, as chore-doers, as control-freaks, as disobedient brats... etc. Soon all we see is the beat-up, old violin. Violins, however, do not have feelings, or a need to be loved; people do, especially our families.

The heart is the lens through which we see. Those things you spend your time, your thought, and your energy on most are the things you value; they are the things you love most. If one of the things you care about comes before members of your family, you may be forgetting the value and love that you want and ought to have for them.

Take time often to see the beauty and value of others; sacrifice for them, help them, and spend time with them.

And, don't forget your daily dose of Music!