BEHOLD

ink and watercolor on watercolor paper

The word behold is an archaic term, meaning "to see or observe (a thing or person, especially a remarkable or impressive one)."  I think of behold as similar to a previous word, revere, in the sense that one reveres something through the act of looking with depth.  The first thing that came to mind when give the word behold, was the phrase "beauty in the eye of the beholder" which springs from a statement made by Plato, "Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder."

The perception of beauty is not objective but rather subjective.  Each and every person has a different opinion of what constitutes beauty.  Another quote in relation to this idea comes from Henry David Thoreau, who states "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."  Essentially, each of us can look at the same object, but only some of us will see it's beauty, or only some of us will find particular aspects of the object or place beautiful.

The choice is completely ours to behold beauty in our life.  Part of taking a journey is saying "yes" to finding beauty in all that you see.  Many would argue that we live in harsh world.  But choosing to find beauty through suffering, pain, and all of our experiences, is choosing to live a life full of rich complexity and meaning.  When we choose to behold all the beauty before us, we are choosing to live a life that is beautiful in itself.  We are choosing to be appreciative, positive rather than negative, and to in turn create a positive impact on our personal worlds.  Choosing to take time to behold and appreciate the beauty in our lives is essential to truly experience and enjoy our personal journeys; I choose to behold the beauty in my life, to appreciate it, and to create it in hopes of fulfilling my own journey.

TRUST (REVERE)

digital photograph, double exposure (Nikon D3000)

watercolor on watercolor paper

To trust is defined as "to believe in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of," or "to have faith or confidence in (something or someone)."  To revere is defined as "to feel deep respect or admiration for something," and is synonymous with "to honor."  When put together, I think of trusting as a way of revering someone by having the utmost faith in this person to carry out a particular deed.  We entrust others with our feelings, our hearts, and our thoughts, and how they treat us these things are crucial as to how we see the person and how important they are to us.  Trust is the foundation of any relationship, whether it be friendship, family, or romantic love.  Thus, trusting someone allows us to grow in reverence for others.

What is often forgotten, however, is that we must first trust in ourselves and revere our personal being before we may trust and revere others.  Personal flaws can often keep us from recognizing our beauty and our importance.  Often, we throw much of our decisions to the wind, relying almost exclusively on fate to guide us.  But we forget that there is a crucial choice as to who and what we choose to trust in.  When we choose to trust our intuition and our inner being, we learn to revere our own inner beauty and light, which in turn shines from within, without.  Learning to love ourselves is a huge step on the way to trusting where our feet are leading us.  This takes time.  We must come to a deep respect of and honor ourselves in order to proceed in the right directions and to live a meaningful life; one where our own person is just as meaningful as other persons, so that we may recognize the worth of ourselves and of others.  We cannot forget that we, as individuals, are sacred.  We must trust the timing of our lives, but revere who we are and the choices that we make in this life.

An excerpt from E.E. Cumming's poem, "Dive for Dreams," serves as inspiration:

trust your heart
if the seas catch fire
(and live by love
though the stars walk backward)
honor the past
but welcome the future
(and dance your death
away at the wedding)
never mind a world
with its villains or heroes
(for good likes girls
and tomorrow and the earth)
in spite of everything
which breaths and moves, since Doom
(with white longest hands
neating each crease)
will smooth entirely our minds
-before leaving my room
i turn, and (stooping
through the morning) kiss
this pillow, dear
where our heads lived and were.

ANCHOR (SEARCH)

watercolor on watercolor paper

To anchor is defined as "to secure firmly in position," "to provide with a firm basis or foundation," or, more specifically, "to moor a ship to the sea bottom."  To search means "to try to find something by looking or otherwise seeking carefully and thoroughly," or "to examine thoroughly in order to find something or someone."

When given the word anchor, of course, the first thing that sprang to mind was the physical word anchor, which is a noun, describing a heavy piece of metal capable of holding ships in one place, keeping them from drifting. A powerful word.  But the verb to anchor is equally powerful.  When a person is anchored, one is firmly stationed in a physical place or figurative situation; one can be said to have solid ground under his or her feet.  When combined with the verb search, I thought of the desire to search for answers while in a certain situation that seems permanent.  Along with this came the word roots.  Roots of trees and vegetation essentially anchor plants to the ground, keeping them firmly rooted to a spot.  Often, we may feel like trees.  Are minds, hearts, and even our physical bodies can seem to be anchored to a certain place.  We feel more at home in some places than others, with some people more than others.  When we are searching for answers, our personal roots anchor us to the ground, and we can often find the answers that we seek merely by being who we are and remembering how we got there.

"All things must come to the soul from its roots, from where it is planted."
Saint Teresa of Avila