My friend Suzanne sent me this this morning.  It is a flock of dancing starlings, called a murmuration.  It feels like an important part of a lesson about beauty, happiness and abundance that I am learning every day, with the help of Eckhart Tolle, Abraham, Suzanne and many others.

For Tolle, abundance is perception, and giving is the key to opening that portal.  He quotes Jesus, “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.”  The “having” is metaphoric and perceptual – not just about possessions or  money in the bank, but in the sensing and feeling of abundance – of sunlight, stars, love, beauty – that surrounds us and that we are a part of.  If we fail to see what we have, and do not give, ultimately our loss is complete.

This reminds me of a great gift I received several years ago from Emily Jones, the head of school at The Putney School in Vermont.  She told students to look for something beautiful every day and let it enter them and make them happy.  I would add to that, hearing, touching, smelling – let the happiness encompass all the senses.  Then share it.