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Be Beautiful

Thursday, January 21, 2021 (Part I), 

Focus on the world, and you can become ugly.  Focus away from the world, and you will become (or stay) beautiful).  

"what sort of hippie nonsense is that"- Everyone who reads this blog....probably

Everyone has to live in, and alongside, ugly, fake, and unimportant worldly things.  Much of this ugly and fake nonsense is pushed to us from the entertainment industry, and the "news".  

Personally, my time on my mat brings clarity, meaning, and beauty to my life and turns my head and my interest, away from things in the world.  No, I don't mean that I stroll around peppering conversations with it ; "I'll have the bacon turkey club please...oh, I also practice yoga every morning," .  However, before anything else, the time on one's mat, whether it be an active prayer/meditation sequence, the physical warmup, or the physical poses/Asanas themselves, is all a beautiful prayerful experience that brings clarity to one's mind, heart, and soul.  That clarity, very often, is a blessing and a curse.  A blessing in that you sharpen your ability to separate what's real from what's fake...important from unimportant.....; but a curse in that, as you achieve more clarity, you see the abundance of fake, unimportant things in the world and how avid and eager the world is to shove these fake, ugly, and unimportant things down/in your throat/head/eyes, etc., (watch Clock Work Orange....).  Seeing the prevalence of fake, ugly, and unimportant things in the world can make one depressed, blue, and hopeless if you're not able to maintain the knowledge that the world has always been like this, and will, more than likely, always be this way. 

A bit of good news is that, much of this fake, ugly, and unimportant nonsense comes from two sources that one has almost complete control over.... 1. The Entertainment Industry (commercials, movies, magazines, etc.) and 2. The "News" (a branch of the entertainment industry with social media, "news" channels, "news" radio, etc.).  This is actually a good thing because, while we may have to live alongside it, one has the ability to control how much of the ugly, fake, nonsense is allowed in (you can turn off your screen/tv/phone/tablet, etc.).  You can turn it off, at any time, and focus on things that are beautiful.  

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