Commentary: Sometimes You need to ignore the network news and enjoy the beauty all around you

By Boyd Lemon / Guest contributor

We are constantly bombarded in the media by all all of the heart breaking, gut-wrenching tragedy that permeates our world. But if you look around, you will see amazing beauty, too. Look at it, appreciate it, and let it soak in.

To me, among the greatest joys of living are art and beauty — both natural and human created. To create and appreciate what others have created is uniquely human. I admire, as especially human, those who write and perform music, draw, paint, sculpt, choreograph and dance and write prose and poetry that touches the heart. As natural beauty can excite and soothe at the same time, so can music, visual art, literature, fashion, graphic art and even what is disdainfully referred to by some artists as craft — furniture, jewelry, embroidery and the presentation of food.

Cold and heat can bring beauty; what appears to some as common or ugly has beauty, which truly is in the eye of the beholder. Appreciating this beauty makes life worth living. Walking, not just in nature, but even around the neighborhood, brings beauty into your life. Experience it with all your senses. Seek out beauty on the streets, in museums, fields, in concert halls, buildings, parks, playgrounds and homes. Beauty is everywhere.  Notice it. Learn to appreciate a beautiful human being, man or woman, without thinking of sex.

If you think you don’t have the time to appreciate and enjoy all this beauty, think about what is important and when you are dying, as we all will, what will have been most important to you. Slow down. Slowing down allows you to enjoy it more.

When I was working as a lawyer full time, I rarely took time to appreciate all of the beauty around me, except occasionally the beauty of nature. As I slowed down, I began to understand what I had missed. When I began spending time with people who saw beauty, my experience and my appreciation for beauty expanded.

Boston is full of art. When I lived there I became a member of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and spent many hours gazing at the Van Gogh’s, Monet’s and other great paintings, sculptures and art from around the world.  I visited the Gardner Museum several times and went to many concerts of the oldest symphony orchestra in the country, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as the New England Conservatory of Music, and free concerts at Berklee College of Music. The natural beauty of the Charles River and its Esplanade, multiple shades of green and blue in the summer, white and gray in the winter, have inspired many.

For art Paris is incomparable. When I lived there, I spent much of my leisure time in Paris in three primary activities: walking in the diverse neighborhoods of the world’s most beautiful city, visiting its art museums and gazing at its architecture.

You will appreciate art more if you take classes in art appreciation. They are commonly given in any adult education facility. Books on art appreciation abound in libraries everywhere. But seeing it in person brings a different, more poignant experience.

I had very little knowledge and not much appreciation for art and music in my youth (except the music that most teenagers and twenty-somethings enjoy). As I grew older, slowed down my mind and spent the time to observe, I began to appreciate the great art in the world.

— Boyd Lemon is a retired lawyer, who re-invented himself as a writer, living in Ventura. He recently returned from a year in France and Italy and is writing a book on retirement.  This column is an excerpt from his new book: “Retirement: A 10 Step Program to the Best Time of Your Life.” He expects it to be released early in 2012.  Additional excerpts will appear in subsequent columns. His memoir, “Digging Deep: A Writer Uncovers His Marriages,” published last May, is about his journey to understand his role in the destruction of his three marriages. He believes it will help others to deal with their own relationship issues. Excerpts are on his website, http://www.BoydLemon-Writer.com