When my eyes are weary and my soul feels heavy, I love to escape to the mountains. My favorite place is anywhere I can find streaming water such as a creek or river. My senses come alive but are simultaneously soothed as fill my lungs with the crisp air and allow my eyes to rest on the moving canvas created by the water. Though the water moves, it is often hypnotic with its constant rhythm of motion, providing the perfect respite. Sadly, escaping to the mountains is not always an option.
Sometime back, a dear friend of mine gave me one of the best decorating tips I have ever received. “Always leave blank space for your eyes to rest in a room,” she advised. In other words, as your eyes move around the room, leave a wall or a table surface empty so your eyes can take a respite from their work. Now, I am one who doesn’t necessarily like clutter, but I do have a home that is well lived in and I like seeing things that bring me joy and tell the story of our family. In my living room hangs: a painting gifted to my father by a patient who didn’t have the funds to pay, a beautiful garden painted and given to me by one of my closest friends before she passed away, a coastal watercolor that belonged to my father-in-law, and few other things that have greater personal significance than monetary value. Each brings my heart joy, but each also calls on my eyes to work in some way when I’m in that room. Therefore, there are some areas left intentionally blank.
At the end of a long day (or anytime the TV seems too loud for both my eyes and my ears), I shift my focus to the blank wall space to the right of the TV. The muted, neutral wall welcomes my gaze and, while I stare at the nothingness, I concentrate on my breathing, Sometimes, I see nothing but the blank wall and, sometimes, I use the blank canvas to picture a flowing stream in my mind. As my eyes enjoy the respite, so does my soul.
Tonight, as I drove home from my long Friday, I felt the heaviness of day hang on my shoulders. “Rest your eyes,” I heard a little voice deep within coax, “Rest your eyes; rest your soul.” And rest them, I did, on the photo at the top of this post.
Where do you like to rest your eyes?
by Mary Lanzavecchia 
Behind my eyelids! With me, it’s mind over matter, so closing my eyes helps me concentrate my mind in a more restful mental space. Of course, I also have my share of “zone outs” in less likely and very noisy, both optically and verbally, places. When I got to the end of your post, I was almost afraid you’d done this while driving! Thank God, though, you didn’t.
LikeLike
What as beautiful picture. I live in the mountains (Blue Mountains, Australia) and a walk in the bush with the amazing eye feast is always restorative. I can’t seem to keep a wall clear, though I think it’s excellent advice. I really tried a few years back when we had our sunroom redone. I managed to keep one wall free for months then just had to add a blank canvas with fairy lights behind. It looks awesome when lit at night but during the day it kind of melds into the wall so you can sort of rest your eyes. What a lovely post. 🙂
LikeLike