A lot of words get thrown around these days that provide a vague sense of direction for wandering souls. People in stretchy fabrics often pepper their sentences with words like mindful and wellness while they cut a moisture-free path through the world, wicking sense away with their sweat.

While our parents and grandparents had wars to fight and revolutions to foment that kept their minds from idling, we have been left, largely at peace, to mine our thoughts and create the worlds around us. But all that extra free time has led to us sifting through existential quandaries in the most publicly digital ways possible creating a myopic sense of despair about our physical bodies as well as our mental resilience.

People are both fearful of invisible monsters – as opposed to, say, encountering evil on a battlefield – and prideful about achievements they did not earn (gold stars, really?). I bring these things up because it is important that we know the extent to which caring for our thoughts brings balance and harmony to the physical space we inhabit.

Mindfulness is not just some abstract spiritual concept invented to sell overpriced yoga pants, it is about the beauty of our lives laid bare stretched out in single breaths that reminds us of the intentionality of our lives.

Breathe your beauty.

Revel in the power that comes from clearing your mind and listening to the world inside you. When it comes time to let the world back in, be inspired by the people who show kindness and discipline in their lives that allows their beauty to shine. Be encouraged to experiment with your creativity. Be as bold and inquisitive about your own life as you are about the lives of each and every person you touch during the day.

You cannot escape your beauty, but first you have to make your mind full of the wonder that allows you to see it.