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The old woman calmly looked at me, as if her eyes were reading the story of my soul,
And in the silence, as her expression displayed the peaceful lines of her natural serenity,
Her contemplation passed, and she became fully aware of the present;
And with a clarity of mind, so astute and penetrating, she addressed me thus:

'Ten years have almost passed and still a word has yet to be exchanged;
And though she has watched you walk, breathe, read and toil,
She has yet to make the contact that will encourage peace to soothe her mind;
And though you both hold back, knowing not how the first word should become manifest,

The solution is simple, and it will come as if taking the most natural and purest breath.
Then, you shall see how pleasantness can evolve from just a few words:
A greeting, so soft and charming: a voice that will melt your heart where you stand;
And it will give birth to a feeling that you never knew existed, a warmth beyond the soul.

She will speak to you, and you shall reply; she will smile and you will smile.
If you fail to reply, she will go away and you shall stand once again in loneliness
In your small, isolated world, which brings no joy, meaning or contentment;
So, if your heart and mind are open to the possibility of change, you should reply.'

Dwelling on the woman's words, I knew she was right; but what if Fate should blind me:
Make me fail to see her, just at the crucial moment, when she stands right before me?
What if my eyes and mind are cruelly distracted again, by some unseen, unhelpful force,
And intentionally steered away from all opportunity during that truly brief period of time?

The old woman gazed at me and, as if perceiving the underlying content of my thoughts, said:
'Your belief is such that even now, after all the chances that have been placed before you,
You still doubt that you are capable, or that she will even appear, or will want to meet you now;
But I tell you this: for all who live, for all who step closer each day towards Mother Destiny,

So brightly robed as she stands resplendent upon all earthly roads and pathways,
You will find it within you, at that precious and most lovely moment, to break through your barrier,
That perpetually seems to envelop and hinder you in all social circumstances,
And you will look into the friendly eyes of this lady, standing so close to you, and you will reply.

But when you find the moment arrives, there may indeed be a pause before you speak,
For so overwhelmed will you become - acutely aware that the moment is finally upon you - that
The lightness and joy unfolding in your heart may first steal away a few of your breaths
Before you can find yourself capable of uttering your very first words.

But she will stand, in patience and serenity, and she will wait for you;
And as she does so, so she will gaze comfortably and easily at you,
And, in her own private way, she will also be treasuring the beauty of the moment
As she fully understands the feelings that circulate so deeply within you.

And knowing how beauty affects your emotional heart and feeds your creativity,
She will stand before you, in loveliness, like the muse who longs only to inspire,
And she will know that in your mind, you are perceiving her as something glorious and elevated:
A lady, not unlike the gracious Beatrice, who shone with light in Dante's eyes.

Her soul is large and beautiful; but it will follow its own road, as will yours;
And in your evolving journey, there will be moments of healing and moments of reflection,
And as the world spins and time wraps itself about you, so you shall look at the world anew
And through her friendship and love, so you shall discover your greatest joy.'

And so I thanked the old woman for her words and for her precious time,
And as I left her home - a home built firmly upon the strongest foundations - I turned inward,
And, whilst in thoughtful and prolonged contemplation, I journeyed into the countryside beyond
And wondered how it was that people could have such an impact on other people's lives.

As I wondered about such things, so eventually, my mind came to rest on the theme of beauty
And how the experience of it - which is so personal to every individual - could inwardly transform
And change a person in a way that no other thing on earth could possibly achieve
And produce feelings so profound that the experience could indeed be life-changing.

As I reflected further on this, so I concluded that beauty, or the response to it,
Must in some way be like a saving moment for people, in their world of routine and ordinariness:
Like a sublime manifestation, appearing unexpectedly in a world that has always been dim;
And so the resulting consequence is a natural appreciation by the mind and heart.

But beauty is not only to be found in the graciousness of the perfect woman, I reflected,
It is also to be found in many other things, among them: music, art and the natural world.
So many wonderful objects around us have the potential to stimulate and inspire:
To elevate our mood to such a degree, that the moment brings with it a sense of contentment.

So, beauty is the transformer of the moment, and through it, we can know how goodness feels:
Let it be the saving of the world and let us create more of it so that we are surrounded by its gold;
Then, over time, more will become changed and they themselves will inspire others
So that never again will the moments of our lives be wasted within the shadows of our world.

 

Written by Mark Woollacott
18th February 2010.