All my life, I have heard the voice of my higher self trying to get me to see and understand the beauty that is in the world. I come from a mother who is an artist and a father who was an engineer. At times, my higher self is moved to tears by the beauty of light hitting an object just the right way (that’s the influence of the artist) and then I look for the science behind this reaction (that is the engineer in me). My higher self is the part of me that is standing right next to the source of all life (for me that’s God).
Emily Esfahani Smith wrote this fabulous book about the pillars of meaning and on her website she has a quiz that I took. I like the evidence of a quiz, so I took it. Turns out that my reaction to beauty is seeking transcendence.
http://emilyesfahanismith.com/quiz/whats-your-pillar
As a photographer and an educator, I used some technology to make a digital story about the pillars of meaning:
Then, a friend turned me on to this survey to identify character strengths
VIA Survery
https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register
Where is beauty?
Sometimes I would get distracted by every day mess in life and not be able to see the beauty. When this happens I feel disconnected from my higher self and ultimately from God. Look at this mess!!!
Tune out the noise and here is the beauty.
Yep, my shower needs to be cleaned, but look at the light pattern…I am so grateful for clean hot water to take a shower.
Ready to start the day’s work in polka dots and stars. Life is pretty good.
A Million Small Steps 