131719-HEART OF GLASTONBURY-MARCH 24 - Flipbook - Page 18
As If For the First Time:Beauty in Glastonbury
by Lynne Sedgmore
One of my joys is showing people
around Glastonbury, especially those
who are visiting for the first time sharing my favourite place in the
world with anyone who wants to
know more about the civic,
community and spiritual spaces
within the town. Watching a
newcomer's eyes widening alongside
their smiles, surprise and delight as
they see all that is available warms
my heart. We have such an eclectic
and unique cornucopia of treasures
in our precious town. On a
walkabout this month with a health
professional I was deeply affected by
how much beauty there is in
Glastonbury.
John O'Donohue in his gorgeous
book Beauty:The Invisible Embrace,
explores how we look at things and
how the quality of our looking
determines what we come to see. He
encourages us to “beautify our gaze”
because when we experience “the
Beautiful” there is a sense of
homecoming as well as joy, delight
and gratitude. He also says that
“beauty is playful like dancing
sunlight, it cannot be predicted, and
in the most unlikely scene or
situation can suddenly emerge”.
This got me thinking about the
beauty I experience when I gaze
upon Glastonbury, especially in the
company of newcomers. His words
have helped me to understand what
happens to me on my Glastonbury
walkabouts as I share and revisit
spaces I have seen thousands of
times before.
So where and how do I experience
the beauty of Glastonbury?
I find it in the wide range of unusual
and carefully designed shop window
displays, and magical interiors. In
our sacred nature places of the
Chalice Well, the Tor, the Abbey
grounds, the Magdalene chapel
garden, and the White spring.
In quiet spaces inside buildings, the
Goddess Temples, the Magdalene
and Margaret chapels, the three
churches of St Johns, St Benedicts
and Our Lady St Mary.
In the spacious informative
Glastonbury Information Centre and
Pilgrim Reception Centre. In the
fabulous murals all around the town,
in their different styles and content.
In the spontaneous, impermanent
art drawn on the pavements until
washed away by the rain. In the
Glastonbury Experience courtyard,
especially the crystal infused
archway.
While walking on Wearyall Hill with
its gorgeous views, and, of course in
the vast iconic scenic landscape
from the top of the Tor.
I also enjoy the warm welcome from
people I know, in the hugs and
conversations with kind, generous
people, many of whom I don't know.
In the creativity on show everywhere
you look, especially during the Frost
Fayre.
In the wide range of ceremonies and
community gatherings. In the towns
colourful characters. In the sense of
homecoming and belonging I feel
just by being physically in the town.
Part of the magic is seeing
Glastonbury "as if for the first time"
through new visitor's and pilgrim's
fresh eyes. I remember vividly how
powerfully affected I was on my very
first visit to Glastonbury in 1989, as
well as on many subsequent
pilgrimages until I moved here in
2010.
So much has changed since then,
and simultaneously much remains
the same, particularly the sacred
landscape.
DESIGNED BY “HEART OF GLASTONBURY” ©
Anne Frank, writing in her diary while
hiding in that tiny room in
Amsterdam from 1942 to 1944
encouraged those who could to “Go
outside and try to recapture the
happiness within yourself; think of all
the beauty in yourself and in
everything around you and be
happy.” How remarkable that
someone so young, and in such
danger, could still tap into the
importance and life giving qualities of
beauty.
Spring is a good time to heed her
advice, to be fully alive to the beauty
of spring as nature rebirths into a
new cycle of the seasons. I encourage
you to find time to “stop and stare” at
the snowdrops, the daffodils and the
greening all around. See the beauty
in everyone and everything. Beautify
your gaze, see and feel the beauty of
Glastonbury over and over again, as
if for the first time, every day.
Beauty is always available.
I conclude with more inspiring words
from John O'Donoghue:
“Some of our most wonderful
memories are of beautiful places
where we felt immediately at home.
We feel most alive in the presence of
the Beautiful for it meets the needs of
our soul.”
I am deeply grateful that Glastonbury
holds many beautiful memories for
me, as well as constantly fostering
new moments of beauty, every day.
Moments that profoundly feed my
heart, spirit and soul.
Lynne Sedgmore