Land of Oz Workshops Blog: On Beauty

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: On Beauty: In The Walk, Author Richard Paul Evans wrote, “Some people in this world have stopped looking for beauty, then wonder why their lives a...

On Beauty

In The Walk, Author Richard Paul Evans wrote, “Some people in this world have stopped looking for beauty, then wonder why their lives are ugly. Look for beauty in everything and everyone and you will find it.”

Noticing beauty and taking the time to appreciate what we see can take an ordinary day and transport it into something extraordinary. Psychologist Abraham Maslow believed that those who experienced more peak experiences did this on a regular basis and it was one of the main reasons why they found so much pleasure in life.

Beauty is a fabulous word to play with because its synonyms: loveliness, pleasure, attractiveness, exquisiteness, splendor, and magnificence excite all the senses. Our five senses include what we see, what we feel, what we hear, what we smell and what we taste. Take the time to play with these five senses to experience how much beauty resides in the simple things of life: The magnificent beauty of nature; the loveliness of a bird’s song in the early morning; the pleasure of the company of a good friend; the splendor of a gracious smile; the exquisite sound and feel of a Mozart piano sonata; the scrumptious look of sautéed vegetables atop artichoke fettuccine and the delectable taste I have the pleasure of savoring.

With all the tragedies that abound and the internet providing them around the clock in full and glorious display, it is easy to forget about the transforming power of noticing and appreciating beauty. When you type in the word beauty on google, you immediately are inundated with pictures of young and beautiful women trying out new cosmetic products, hair products, and skin care products. In other words, we have come to associate beauty with youthfulness, flawless skin and perfect hair. 

 These are in fact beautiful but they only represent a very small and narrow picture of what is beautiful.

Physician and specialist on death and dying, Elizabeth Kubler- Ross wrote, “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

Beauty is all around us. It is in the immensity of stars up above; the ravishing rising and setting of the sun and the lovely phases of the moon. Beauty is in the depths of the ocean, the lakes, the streams, and waterways. It is in the colorful flowers and trees. It is in the people we lovingly call family and friends and the caring acts of strangers. Beauty is in the grand poetry of Whitman and the lovely and delicate nocturnes of Chopin.

It is so important in the business of life to never forget our God given abilities to notice and appreciate beauty. And as Novelist Franz Kaffka wrote, “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Power of the Creative Process

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: The Power of the Creative Process: With the Academy Awards airing a few weeks ago, it spurred my interest in who holds the record for most Oscar nominations and wins. I was s...

The Power of the Creative Process

With the Academy Awards airing a few weeks ago, it spurred my interest in who holds the record for most Oscar nominations and wins. I was surprised to find out it is Walt Disney. Over the course of his illustrious career, Disney was nominated for 59 Oscars and won 22. In addition, he received 4 special Oscars.

Disney was a very unusual student. When his elementary school teacher asked the class to sketch the flower vase she placed on her desk, young Walt sketched it with added arms, legs, and a smiling flower at the top. His teacher scolded him for not paying attention to her instructions to just draw the vase!  Walt courteously listened to her complaints but continued to draw what he saw in his vivid imagination.  Years later, animals, plants and objects with human voices and attributes became a Disney trademark.

By age twenty, Walt Disney was hired to draw cartoons for the Kansas City Film Ad Company. Within a short time he was drawing cartoons that moved but they still didn’t move in the way he envisioned they could. He studied and worked tirelessly towards making drawings move in more graceful and sophisticated ways so they would have greater realism. These drawings and experiments took thousands of hours to perfect.

Disney was the first person to sell the idea of having a cartoon open for a feature film. As a door to door salesman, he sold cartoons by the linear foot to local movie theatres. Most theatre owners didn’t understand why a movie-goer would want to watch this new form of entertainment. Walt was not put off. His focus, determination, and passion for animation and creating laugh-out-loud characters won over all opposition and eventually made him a legend.

When he was 28, he came up with the idea of a little character named Mortimer Mouse.  His wife thought that it was a dreadful name and suggested something more enticing like Mickey Mouse. The name really stuck a chord within Disney. Intrigued by the new talking films that were beginning to gain in popularity, Disney worked tirelessly to synchronize Mickey’s movements to sound, making it the first carton of its kind. He named his first animated talking cartoon Steamboat Willie. The year was 1927. Most theatre owners told him that the public would not be interested in a mouse that talked. Disney pushed ahead despite their cynicism. Within a few years, Mickey Mouse was the most popular cartoon character in the country. By 1935, the Mickey Mouse Club had over 1.5 million members.

As Abraham Maslow once described it, the creative process has a right brain inspirational phase and a left brain planning and work phase. Disney was a man with remarkable creativity, determination, tenacity, and follow through. Reading about Disney’s life is deeply inspiring. It is inspiring because we can create on our own unique level of creativity and make our artistic stirrings tangible. We may never achieve what Disney achieved but we can accomplish something we can be delighted with and very proud of. 

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: A Beautiful Mind

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: A Beautiful Mind: A Beautiful Mind Last year I spoke at the Fielding Institute's International Conference on Positive Aging in Los Angeles. The event w...

A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind

Last year I spoke at the Fielding Institute's International Conference on Positive Aging in Los Angeles. The event was held at the Center for Non-Profit Management which sits next to Chinatown and the old Union Train Station. It is one of the most colorful and historical areas of Los Angeles. The conference presentations were divided into 4 categories: wellness, life transitions, creativity, and community.

Aligning the main hallway leading to the workshop room where I spoke were twelve prominent and huge and colorful posters, each inscribed with one of the statements below. When I stood beneath these mammoth posters, looked up and read what these wise elders had to say about the power of maintaining a beautiful mind, I took out a piece of paper and wrote down each of their quotations.

A beautiful mind feels free to discover new things and to open new doors.

A beautiful mind avoids rigid thinking.

A beautiful mind is optimistic and sees the good in life and seeks out the good.

A beautiful mind believes that excellent nutrition is a pathway to inner peace.

A beautiful mind finds enjoyment in daily experiences and savors those experiences.

A beautiful mind stays physically active and knows that exercise enhances the mind/body/spirit connection.

A beautiful mind thinks creatively and looks for solutions.

A beautiful mind lives in the moment while playing with future possibilities.

A beautiful mind takes risks and loves to learn new things.

A beautiful mind knows how to play, enjoy, relax, and have fun.

A beautiful mind is not concerned with age but instead finds ways to thoroughly enjoy the fruits of aging.

A beautiful mind notices and appreciates the splendor of nature, music, art, and dance.

A beautiful mind loves loving and being loved.

Because of the negative ways the media portrays the aging process in America, we typically have very limited and biased views of what it means to age graciously and healthily. I’ve met thousands of people through my former classes at Santa Barbara City College who were enjoying aging and thriving in their respective lives and I have met thousands of people who were dreading aging out of fear of what their future holds.

I do not regard aging as a process of deterioration. Instead, I see it as a process of change. We have the ability and opportunity to impact these changes favorably or unfavorably. We can do more to improve our health and wellness than we think we can. Our goal is to be more proactive and to take the time to educate ourselves on how we influence the development of the brain by our thoughts, feelings, quality of life, and how we view our future.

The authors of these compelling proclamations were obviously vibrant people who had discovered the secrets of transcending the world of problems and conflicts and opening their minds to a higher vision of what is possible.

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Love Lessons of the Tin Woodman

Land of Oz Workshops Blog: Love Lessons of the Tin Woodman: Farther down the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy and the Scarecrow come upon something shiny positioned between the trees that stops them in the...