Taurus' 2nd Decan Influence: "Beauty" (May 1st - May 10th)

Taurus' 2nd lesson is the pleasant idea of beauty, and while beauty itself is flitting and fleeting, striking fast and soaring high, the definition of what beauty IS is itself deep and complex.

Dictionary.com defines beauty as, "[t]he quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)."

Whether we're struck by beauty from a person, from nature, from art, or from thought, all beauty by definition arises from a QUALITY of the thing - not necessarily the thing itself.

Understanding that beauty is more a calibrated matter of degrees and less about mere existence or being helps us to realize beauty as an empowering tool we can use to help us function in our world.

So if we can use beauty to empower ourselves to function more capably and efficiently in our world, then what are the instructions on using this tool, and what are the circumstances? To understand HOW to use beauty wisely, let's view it through the scope of Taurus' overall key idea, "I have", and its other lessons of "attraction" and "stability".

It has been said that it is beauty most of all that attracts us. Our lessons on attraction have explained how attraction is more a matter of physical existence and less a matter of primping. As physical beings in a physical world, we can't help but attract things to us - that's science. Things surround us everywhere we go, every day. We HAVE so MUCH! And while we're here in the midst of a bunch of stuff continuously, it is only through the active, conscious use of our awareness that these things become tangible, useful items we can use to change our world.

Things that catch our eye, beautiful things, bright and shiny things, attract our attention most. The quick strike of beauty sends our happiness sky high! Why? What is it about something beautiful out there that makes us feel good in here, inside? Beauty calls our attention to the present moment, and when our awareness is where our being is, synergy happens. We are in the moment, free of distractions. And it is in these moments that we can, if we know that we can, recognize the usefulness of what we're beholding. The pleasantries of beauty can bring us relief, and if we continue to follow the path of what has our attention instead of discarding it for the next beautiful distraction, beauty can eventually empower us to change reality.

How do you use beauty? On the surface it's a temporary vacation brought on by attraction. If we stick with it though we may uncover a considerable call to action.

The relation between attraction and beauty is easy to recognize. The link between beauty and stability, the next and final lesson of Taurus', is not as apparent. Like happiness, the effect beauty has on us moves along a path of highs and lows, heights and depths. In contrast, stability is more concerned with enduring through time. If beauty is the vertical, stability is the horizontal.

Surely chasing the beautiful is not the path to stability. A flittering butterfly, a pretty lady, a rushing and refreshing waterfall into a crystal clear lagoon that captures our attention and clears it of distractions. These things call us to chase them, whether we were seeking them out or, as is usually the case, just happening upon them. Trading our focus towards current goals for the next beautiful thing is no way to achieve stability.

So what's the link here? The key to using beauty functionally then isn't about surrendering our attention to the next new thing. Our money-driven culture thrives on our weakness here, using both new items to buy AND flashy, shiny marketing methods to entrap our awareness long enough to hear their money-moving manipulative messages. If we merely just follow what grabs our attention next in this society, we're instant prey. But if we study the definition of beauty, and think about how to apply it to our real and actual circumstances, we're empower ourselves to make real changes in our actual world.

As defined, beauty comes from the quality of something, not its newness. The new smartphone, latest fashion trend, and next year's line of hot cars are always advertised to be better than the last. This happens so often in marketing that we as a culture have come to equate "new" with "better quality". When's the last time you heard a commercial say, "our new product isn't quite as good as last year's, but it's still nice"? We don't buy something because it's new, we buy it because we believe it's better quality.

Advertising agencies know this secret, do you? As functional, capable beings able to work within the world around us, it is quality we desire most in the tangible goods of our world. We spend money on things that are quality enough to get the job done, and many times purchase as much quality as we believe we can afford.

Let's take money out of the equation and look at this again. What if we spent our real inheritance, our attention, on the quality of the goods that already surround us? They may not be new, or shiny, and they may have long since lost our attention. But if we bring a heightened awareness back to the way we "spend" our everyday, would we find beauty in what already surrounds us? Would we find quality in the things we've let sit idol for days, months, maybe even years? Would the dull world we trudge through daily suddenly light up with the sparkles of beauty as seen on tv? Would we finally find a reason to use the things we've already attracted to us?

Instead of chasing beauty, sit still and realize the beauty that already surrounds you. What calls to us in the here and now is an invitation to understand it better, figure out its purpose, and put it to good use. Things are here and beauty exists, but only we have the hands to physically manipulate the world we live in. And by occupying one place over time, whether it's a house or a goal or a defined train of thought, using the resources available to us in that place in time creates a stable environment. It is stable merely because it stays in existence over time. Sit still, use what you have, and act upon what calls to you.

It takes an applied knowledge to light up the world we live in. The monotony and clutter that typically surrounds us may not seem very beautiful, but why? Without newness, our attention usually overlooks beauty and the heights of happiness it reaches within us. It is up to us to slow down the way we process the world so that our attention can once again behold that which is already in front of us.

Study what you find today, no matter how ordinary it may seem. If it's not useful, do a little research and find out what good the goods we have really are. Maybe our stuff can be used in different ways. Maybe bringing two ordinary things together can give them both purpose again. Play around like a child outside in the first warm days of spring, and study like an adult the things you encounter.

Remember the goodness beauty holds for us. Be driven by the highs that beauty helps us reach. Then try to find beauty in something that's long lost its shine. If we do this once, we unlock a door that leads us to discover the usefulness in what we have, the beauty in things that are, and, by uncovering hidden purpose, we light up our world.