Beautiful.... Because You Are!

        Judith my sister sent this picture of me years ago. I keep it on my desk beside my computer. I've puzzled over it. Wondering how old was I? Based on family stories this may have been my second birthday. Was the hobby horse a gift? Or already in the family? I don't know. I love that I'm laughing in the picture. I have absolutely no remembrance of this event or being this age. I do see that my mother dressed me in pants way to long such that she rolled up the cuffs. But I do remember my first day of kinder garden walking toward the door in a new pair of jeans with cuffs rolled up half way to my knees. "You'll grow into them," mother said. I'm  sure I grew out of them waist wise long before I grew tall enough to unroll the cuffs to my ankles. Again what I love about the picture, I'm laughing with joy being me in that moment on the hobby horse. 

        Consciousness, awareness grows as we develop, it can be easy to lose the joy of being alive. Life takes us through trials and tribulations that can sour us. A consciousness of difficulties accompanied by the shadow of death walking every step of the way. Literally life and death define each other. Literally. Growing consciousness can move us to another place.  To  recognize that we are much more than meets the eye. Soul or spirit our true basis of being. To become more and more aware of that divine energy in ourselves is the goal of spiritual practice. That the energy that flows through all things was before and will be after the body turns to dust. We receive moments of inspiration if we're awake to this mysterious energy that animates us. 

        I want to share some of those moments. Going through some old poems I found one marked as lyrics titled "Beautiful... Because You Are."  The lyrics are below and a video recording I made. One extra verse I added to the original because a friend in spiritual practice shared a picture of her reconciling with her mother. Friends sharing is another way we get awakened to the Good in our lives. Then before I finished this blog friends lost a daughter just twenty-five

years of age. They shared their love for her. I felt deeply touched. I quickly wrote another verse for the song. An appreciation of shared beauty in tragic loss. 

        That boy in the picture still lives and wants to share with you my friends this song. 

      Beautiful Because You Are!

    Well I'm just no good at working for a dollar anymore,

    I just want to sing my song, make love with you because,

   You're so beautiful.... just because you are;

    And I just can't take this culture serious anymore,

    There's yokes and there's jokes wherever I go,

    But if you look up in the trees see the breeze playing with the leaves,

    You'll see it's all so beautiful just because you are;

    On the playground a little girl has a ball bounce off her knee,

    Turns to me and says, "I have trouble catching it can't you see,"

    I smile and tell her it don't matter anyhow,

    Because you're so beautiful, just because you are;

    I saw a friend reconcile by kissing her mother's cheek,

    Her mother's face expressed such joy, she didn't have to speak,

    I tell you it was beautiful, just because you are;

    Friends lost their daughter, just twenty-five years of age,

    Deeply compassionate, with a smile she gave her love away,

    People to console them, explained how she helped with their pain,

    I tell you she's still beautiful, just because you are;

    As the Sundance finished, I saw two old dancers greet,

    The old man and wife kissed so purely sweet,

    I tell you it was beautiful, just because you are;

    So if you're walking down the street with your chin down to you knees,

    I hope you'll hear my song playing through your memory,

    Remember to look up in the trees where the breeze plays with the leaves,

    You'll see it's all so beautiful, just because you are; 

    You know this world was made for you and me,

    And the birds and the bees, and I tell you....

    It's beautiful, just because you are,

    Yes, so beautiful, just because you are...

    

        To witness beauty their must be beauty within. L...O...V...E  that big four letter word too lives inside an energy that makes everything else possible. From the boy that was and is; Love You All My Friends!   

                                                        Tony