All things are perceived in the light of charity, and hence under the aspect of beauty: for beauty is simply Reality seen with the eyes of love. Evelyn Underhill – Mysticism (1955)

Subtlety 

In our fast moving, marketing and advertising driven world, subtlety is a dying art. Even the spelling of the word evokes a certain kind of curiosity.

I have always had an interest in advertising. I have noticed that the field is producing louder and more blatant messages that bombard our senses. The messages are filled with heavy-handed slogans with the intent to turn optional products into necessities that demand us to react, the faster and sooner, the better.

By the time I wade through the copious mail offers that promise an instant fix to problems I didn’t know I had, I am numb with exhaustion.

Years ago, during a water shortage, an ad that is a great example of the essence of subtlety appeared on billboards throughout the Southland. It depicted a person taking a shower and all it said was: “Sing shorter songs. “

When we approach ourselves and our lives as a problem to be solved, we put ourselves in danger of being assaulted by a never-ending influx of internal criticisms that increase our anxiety levels and flood our nervous system with static, until we lose contact with our innate ability to successfully manage our day to day affairs.

We begin to treat ourselves like a product instead of a process that is meant to unfold in communion with the subtle shifts and changes that come to us as opportunities for right action. When we overly identify with a perfectionist mind set, we lock our creative energy into a chokehold of commands, and demands, to perform and deliver outcomes that are driven by a frantic lusting after unattainable static results.

Reality becomes distorted with unexamined opinions, and judgments, that shine a harsh light on our accomplishments, as too insignificant to warrant any acceptance or acknowledgement of the rightness of our world, exactly as it is.

No wonder most of us are depleted and numb to the natural beauty that surrounds us.

When we approach our lives prefacing every action with an unconscious lead line that: “Things go better with more…money, love, attention, beauty, possessions, friends, vacations, clothes, etc., we become calibrated to a way of being that continually grasps, clings, commands, and demands that we stay ever-ready to pounce on every opportunity to elevate our image of ourselves, to new and glorious heights, for fear that if we let go of striving, fixing, and figuring out our next move, we will fall behind into oblivion.

There is another approach that, if embraced, brings an instant shift in our way of seeing. This new perception can only be utilized by developing a taste for the subtle side of reality.

When we approach our life situations as a reality to be experienced, rather than a problem to be solved, an interesting transformation takes place.

Imagine that you find yourself walking down a long hallway. There are many doors on either side. At the end of the hall are two doors. The one on the left has a sign on it that says: Problems to be Solved. The door on the right is marked with a sign stating: Reality to be Experienced. Out of habit, you are naturally drawn to the problem door. It is your normal way of approaching your life situations, so it feels more comfortable and familiar to you.

Go ahead and open the problem door. Enter in and take a moment to look around and make note of the most blatant problems that you are currently facing. Only stay for a short visit; just enough to assure yourself that everything is exactly as it was the last time you looked. Now come back into the hallway and place yourself in front of the second door. Don’t open it yet. Take a few gentle breaths and allow yourself to call on a deep sense of calmness. Feel yourself actually begin to settle, and still, your racing energy.

Remember that when you open this door, and enter in, there is nothing for you to do other than to allow yourself to be open, and receptive, to seeing yourself and your current life situations through more loving and accepting eyes. Now reach out, open the door, and step over the threshold.

Feel yourself subtlety, easily, gracefully, and quietly beginning to open to a fuller awareness and acceptance of the sense of rightness in the various aspects of your current life situations. Bring to mind people you love, experiences you cherish, and open to a deepening acceptance of your basic goodness, and the goodness of your life.

Trust this inner knowing, and feel it begin to permeate throughout your felt sense, as you gently breathe and feel yourself softening, surrendering, and opening your heart and mind, to allow the beginnings of delight to take root. As you stand, ready and willing, to widen your arms to encompass all aspects of your current reality just as it is, a new reality begins to dawn.

Perhaps, by courting subtlety, you will begin to discover and bring a new sense of lightness and ease to your handling of your life, as you realize that what you are seeking is also seeking you.