Beautifully Imperfect

We work so hard to chase perfection, when it's really the imperfections that make life beautiful.  

TED Talk Tuesday: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.

Louie Schwartzberg has been shooting time-lapse photography 24/7 for the past 30 years.
His unfolding and evolving images are breathtaking.

His message is equally as inspiring.
In this TED Talk, he draws the connections between nature, beauty and gratitude.

"Beauty and seduction is nature's tools for survival, because we protect what we fall in love with.  It opens our hearts and makes us realize we are a part of nature and we are not separate from it.  When we see ourselves in nature, it also connects us to every one of us because it is clear that it is all connected and one."

 The second part of his video introduces his new project, Happiness Revealed.  It is a moving short film on gratitude and happiness, told through the point of view of a child and an elderly man.

"You think this is just another day in your life, it's not just another day.  It's the one day that is given to you today.  It's given to you.  It's a gift.  It's the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness." 

What are you grateful for today?

The Secret to Surviving Conference Calls (and Other Forms of Corporate Torture)

This morning was a doozy!

First of all, I woke up before 5 a.m.

I need to point out that I am not a morning person.
I am the opposite of a morning person.
The only way 4 a.m. and I get along is if I'm seeing it at the end of a fun night.
Not the beginning of a new day.

I got up this early because I had to fly to Hilo for work, which I do every week.

However, I had to get on an even earlier flight than normal because I had a mandatory conference call.

And, because I live in Hawaii, these calls are ridonkulously early for me.

So, here I am, in Hilo.  Bleary eyed.  Super early in the morning.  

Sitting in my rental car.  In the rental car parking lot.

On conference call #3 out of 4 this week.

NOT a happy camper.  NOT even really awake.  All in all, pretty miserable.

(Did I mention I hadn't had coffee yet?)

About an hour into the call, it dawned on me.

I can be on this call... ANYWHERE!  I don't have to sit in this crappy parking lot.

So I drove, to the most beautiful place I knew in Hilo.

And I got out of my car, parked my butt on the rock wall, and listened to my conference call while gazing at this:

And suddenly, it was all good.

It was only then that I noticed what a gorgeous day it was.

The sun was shining in Hilo, where it's usually overcast and rainy.

The waterfall was stunning.  Like take-your-breath stunning.

The sunlight hit it in a way that there were multiple rainbows shooting off the mist.

It was magical.

I started to walk around and noticed brilliant flowers like these:

which are everywhere in Hawaii, but today I really noticed them.

And in that moment, while my conference call continued, I realized something.

If you're miserable, change your situation.

Now, I know when I hear stuff like that, I imagine BIG changes.  Like quitting your job and traveling around the world for 4 years kinda-big.  But what I realized today is that changing your situation doesn't have to always be that dramatic.  Just a simple thing like changing your scenery, or seeking something beautiful, can make a impactful change on your perception.

I'm positive some of you are saying, "Easy for you to say, you live in Hawaii and have beautiful things like waterfalls and tropical flowers all around you."  And I completely admit, Hawaii is insanely gorgeous.  But even with magical things all around you, if you're not open to them, you can go through your entire day, your entire life even, without experiencing them.  There is beauty everywhere.  You just have to look for it.  If all else fails, you can alway go to that happy place in your head.

By the way, where was this gorgeous place?

Rainbow Falls.  If you're ever in Hilo, I highly recommend it.  

Especially if you're stuck on a conference call.