Walk in Beauty

Nature Connections By Minnie Kansman

"The more I look for the beauty in people, the more beautiful people I see."

What is the meaning of beauty? Definitions say it is a quality that brings pleasure to the senses or to the mind by behavior or attitude. Science informs us that it has to do with the physical appearance of health and fertility. We are attracted to beauty because it indicates strong reproductive capabilities, linked to survival of the fittest.

Our minds are also attracted to symmetrical balanced images, and the average face is symmetrical. From Science News, “Research shows that people with more symmetrical faces don’t just look nice, they also tend to be healthier than asymmetrical people. Genes provide the instructions for how a cell is to perform. All people have the same number of genes.

But people with more average faces tend to have a greater diversity in the genes they are born with. And that, research has shown, can lead to a stronger immune system and better health.”

Pudaung Woman

Culture also plays a role in what we view as physically beautiful. We have all heard the saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This brings to mind that our version of beauty is an individual judgment. Any characteristic can be applied to a physical object and said to be pleasing to the senses or hideous. Women of the Padaung tribe in Thailand wear coiled brass rings around their necks from a very young age. These collars give the illusion of an elongated neck and this is seen as a symbol of beauty in their tribe that they wear proudly.

Giverney Rose

In the Chinese culture, the practice of binding young girls feet to keep them small, was once considered a symbol of beauty. It was also a means of displaying the status of wealthy families. Those who did not need their feet to work, could afford to have them bound.

Nose and ear plugs, piercings, tattoos, freckles, and body size all showcase cultural views of physical beauty. When author Clarrisa Pinkola Estes visited her birth family in Mexico for the first time, she was viewed by family and friends there as being too skinny. They desired to “fatten her up”, to give her the vision of health and beauty their culture esteemed.

Sweet Woman

There are also other layers of our senses that perceive beauty in our world. A rose may be labeled as beautiful visually, but also our sense of smell can take that feeling even deeper. Sunsets, ocean waves, peaceful forests, and the vastness of space can touch our hearts with beauty by their very existence. Nature provides us many opportunities to experience awe and wonder in our lives.

Our sense of hearing is another way to experience beauty. Sounds that are pleasing to the ear such as music, poetry, and laughter can fill our hearts with emotions that their beauty provokes. Exquisitely prepared foods provide us with beautiful pleasures for our taste buds.

Another layer of beauty goes beyond the physical characteristics of the human body, and that is beauty of the Spirit. This is the light that shines forth from people that is sometimes called charisma. It is the true essence of who we are inside, our individuality. This true beauty illuminates our beings with the confidence and acceptance of truly loving our own uniqueness. When we are near this kind of beauty, we cannot help but feel enlightened as well. Our true beauty shining out enables others to feel more alive and powerful and real. This is what “Walking in Beauty” really means.

Loving Couple

There is also beauty found in our connection to one another. Our hearts know and sense this level of relationship that goes much deeper than any physical attraction. It is seeing one another Spirit to Spirit, and the beauty in that creates strong feelings of love that fill us to our core.

So in the end, true beauty is about being your natural authentic self. It is being present and engaged in our lives and with those around us. Here is a vision of what someone Walking in Beauty might look like.

Thank you for walking this road of Beauty and Nature Connection with me each month. I will leave you with a quote written by my dear husband, Rein Kansman: “The more I look for the beauty in people, the more beautiful people I see.”

Beautiful People

Speak about their passions with depth and conviction.

Find the absurd , fun and hilarious in everyday situations.

Listen with gentleness, love, and compassion to people who are suffering.

Throw themselves wholeheartedly into a pursuit they find engaging.

Exercise to expand their intellect to gain more wisdom, understanding, and deeper philosophical insight.

Admit their failures, shortcomings, mistakes, and doubts with a simple and unpretentious sincerity.

Speak out for all Beings who are treated unjustly and cruelly.

Are vulnerable and honest about difficult and potentially embarrassing times in their lives with the intent of helping other people in similar situations.

Minnie Kansman is a certified Master Feng Shui Consultant and Educator and Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, her business Eco~Balance Humanity in Harmony with Nature assists others with Feng Shui, Sacred Space Clearing, and Nature Spirit Connection. She is author of Spirit Gardens: Rekindling our Nature Connection, and Missing Nana: Lessons from the Nature Spirits, a playful children’s story about the afterlife based on love. Join Minnie for her Nature Connections live stream the fourth Wed. of the month at 4 pm ET, and contact her for long distance and on-site Feng Shui Consultations and Space Clearing Ceremonies. Check out her website for a Forest Therapy walk near you. www.minniekansman.com | ecobalance99@gmail.com | fb: minniekansman99 | fb: Nature Connections with Minnie Kansman