Perhaps you've heard the expression, 'Random acts of kindness, and senseless acts of beauty.'
I'm not certain when I heard this phrase for the first time, but for sure it was many years ago. I think I might have been in my early 20s. And while I never really understood what a ‘senseless act of beauty’ was, the entire phrase resonated with me. It occasionally pops into my consciousness as I navigate challenging times either in my personal life or in the zeitgeist – the spirit or mood of a particular time in history.
According to Google, 'senseless acts of beauty' is a phrase that means to do something lovely without premeditation, and that is inconsistent with your usual behavior. It is often used in conjunction with the phrase 'random acts of kindness' to encourage people to do small, unexpected acts to make others feel happy.
So why am I thinking of it now? Well, here in the northern hemisphere the days are getting shorter and shorter. It is now well-established that less sunlight and more darkness tends to make people more sluggish, anxious, and generally unhappy. And on top of that, it is also the time of year when families get together for the celebration of love (aka Christmas if you happen to practice Christianity, or even if you are not a Christian perhaps you ‘practice Santa Claus’).
But maybe this season of loving and giving is actually - at least part of the time - nail-biting and teeth-gnashing for us. We don’t really want to see great-aunt Margaret and listen to her stories about the good old days. We can’t talk politics because that is treacherous ground and may lead to family members not speaking to each other ever again. It can be a fraught and sometimes uncomfortable time.
So as this phrase popped into my head again today, I decided to write a prescription for myself, and offer it as a challenge for you as well. What if, every day in December, I committed to doing a random act of kindness or a senseless act of beauty? And what if I also made a note to myself about this small daily act. The latter is called anchoring – a way of starting to embody a new cellular memory. It’s kind of like the impact of taking Essences, where we are welcoming the qualities that Essences will provide. Only in this instance, we are choosing to deliberately create an outcome by doing a daily practice.
My guess is that by the time I am hanging out with family and friends, and trying to get everything on the table at the same time, my happiness hormones will be flooding my Body/Mind and I will easily navigate and be present for great-aunt Margaret and any treacherous ground on which I might find myself. I expect that dopamine (the reward chemical), oxytocin (the love hormone), endorphins (the pain killers) and serotonin (the mood stabilizer) will enhance my ability to move with grace and ease through these times of excess and darkness. Serotonin especially is what we may be missing on these darker days with less sunlight.
Anyway, the point is that I know full well that I have the capacity to maintain equanimity and even enjoy the challenges that this time of year brings. And I also know the smallest acts of kindness, and the silliest expressions of beauty, will not only improve the quality of my life but may in fact impact another life in ways I will never know. I'm looking forward to taking this self-created 'prescription,' and I hope you will consider joining me this season!
