Cultivating beauty in the lives of those around us

I have a powerful belief in our individuality, and that we should always prioritize our happiness as well as our growth. But we have in my opinion a moral obligation to be there for our families, whether blood or chosen, our friends and our communities. Cultivating beauty in the lives of those around us starts on the simplest level, but amounts to being continually considerate of the happiness and well-being of others. Without crossing their boundaries.

1. Support libraries, museums, and your local music scene. Our depths of creativity and intelligence are priceless. Donate. Encourage people to visit and invest in these things. And as part of your own self-care and growth, take on intellectual pursuits, learn your local history, discover a new creative hobby that you can share with others.
2. Participate in local cleanup projects, and this might be controversial, but positive public art where aloud. A cleaner, more intentional environment just makes us all feel psychologically better, and more inclined to care about the world around us. I have seen for myself how removing trash and debris from a neighborhood, helping to repair homes, putting up murals and chalk art, can be a breath of fresh air for everyone who lives there.
3. This starts at home. Be kind to your neighbors, take care of your property, clean up trash in your environment, be kind and validating to your children and respectful of your pets. And remember to do these things for yourself so you have more to give to those you actually care about. You can only control your own actions, but projecting genuine positivity only gives everyone around you an emotional boost. Everyone has to individually choose to care about making things better. But when someone does, it spreads.
4. Respect the boundaries of others. This is about allowing everyone to have a sense of peace, which does not harm you. The whole neighborhood doesn’t need to hear the music from your car. People having a religious service you disagree with on their own property deserve their space. Neighbors should not have to put up with trash or overgrown vegetation from your property.
5. Show kindness and hospitality to strangers of all backgrounds, so long as they respect your space and who you are. A healthy community is one where diversity is accepted, and where people can feel welcome no matter their religion, ethnicity, orientation, gender, or whether or not they have body art and crazy hair colors. No social division defines whether or not someone is a good person. Economic status, religion, job title, none of that matters. So some of those people you might be judging are probably amazing.
6. The last thing I believe should be part of this equation is interspiritual work. Whether you walk with one God or many or just the concept of fate, spiritual belief gives beauty to life as long as it is not being used to negatively impact people who disagree with it, and can open doorways to knowledge and personal connections we otherwise might not receive.