Why Micro Moments of Beauty Matter in an Uncertain World |
Humans are wired to survive and to predict our environment.
Large-scale uncertainty drains our nervous sytem.
Micro moments of noticing the beauty around us can help regulate our nervous system.
Such glimmers do not solve uncertainty or large-scale issues, but do help us to cope.
This morning, I am returning to work after two weeks of annual leave. Sitting at my desk, I can hear, ever so softly, the news channel playing in a neighbouring unit, streaming in through the open sliding doors. The news presenter is talking about war, bombings, and deaths and displacements. Rising fuel prices, housing shortages, and cost of living hikes. The world feels uncertain for many people. Even those of us lucky enough not to be directly affected by war or famine can struggle with an uncertain, often harsh world.
My eyes dance around my desk, landing on the beautiful, vibrant pink flowers sitting next to my laptop. I bought them yesterday, to keep me company today while returning to work after two weeks of annual leave. Small moments of beauty, I have found, help regulate my nervous system when the world feels uncertain, a bit anxiety-inducing, or simply too much for the moment.
Why are small moments of beauty like this so important when the world feels uncertain?
The psychological impact of large-scale uncertainty
Humans are wired to survive; one important way in which our brain tries to increase our odds of survival is by predicting what may occur in our environment. When the world feels predictable, we feels more calm, safe, and in control. But when the world feels unpredictable, and we cannot foresee what will happen next, our nervous systems struggle and remain on high alert.
Uncertainty, especially when ongoing or unresolved for longer periods of time, keeps our brain in a state of anticipation and distress. Our brain keeps trying to predict what will happen next, what will follow, but it can’t get it quite right. This increases anxiety and keeps our nervous system in a state of constant vigilance, unable to fully relax or calm down. So it’s not just danger that drains us, it is the not knowing, the unpredictability of world events and decisions by authority figures that dysregulates us.
Our nervous system needs anchors
When the world feels “too big,” it can help to nudge our brain to shift focus. Instead of focussing on the macro level, the state of the world, our country, or our life, can we shift focus to the micro level? To what is immediate, what is sensory, what feels controllable and predictable. Can we shift focus, even for a few seconds, to the beautiful, vibrantly pink flowers on our desk? To the soothing jazz music playing on our record player? To the fresh breeze that passes along our skin. Small, concrete experiences act as anchors in an uncertain world in which we can feel adrift. They provide small signals of safety and predictability to our nervous system.
Beauty as a regulating glimmer
Sensory micro-experiences of beauty work especially well as anchors for our nervous system. Under uncertainty and stress, attention narrows towards threat and negative information, causing us to doomscroll or listen to the news on repeat. Intentionally noticing small moments of beauty, gently redirects attention, with beauty tending to capture attention and also allowing us to dwell on it for a moment. Taking in the beautiful qualities of colour, texture, or scent. By capturing and holding attention, beauty can shift our minds away from abstract fears. Such small cues of safety and calm are often referred to as “glimmers”. The practice of noticing the micro moments of beauty around us, can help us broaden our attention retrain our attention to shift away from threat and uncertainty for nervous system regulation.
Why small moments work (even when big problems remain)
Such glimmers do not solve uncertainty or large-scale issues. But they do temporarily reduce physiological arousal, create moments of emotional reprieve, and restore a sense of presence and mindfulness.They remind us that Relief does not necessarily equal resolution, and that even in difficult circumstances we can find moments of beauty and calm.
The counter-intuitive take-away is that you don’t need to “fix” uncertainty to feel a little better and downregulate your nervous system into a more calm state. Instead focus on the sensory experience of beauty. Notice one small, sensory detail in your environment, create small moments of order or beauty, and limit ongoing exposure to abstract threats when your nervous system is struggling. These glimmers, moment of beauty that help regulate our nervous system, then are not trivial, they are regulatory necessities for modern-day life.
Looking at the vibrant pink flowers on my desk, I notice I tuned out the news next door and got absorbed, even if just for a minute, in the beauty of the colour and texture of the petals. I feel my shoulders have dropped and my breathing has slowed just a bit. Noticing beauty is not avoidance. It is a way of staying psychologically steady in an uncertain modern world. In uncertain times, it’s often the smallest, most ordinary moments that help us feel safe enough to keep going.
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