Works of Beauty


My friend and I went on an outing to the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls yesterday.

2000 live butterflies call this place home.

You experience butterflies in a natural setting amongst a backdrop of lush greenery, a gentle waterfall and moist temps.    
   
Earlier this year I attended an art exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario called Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces from Monet, Van Gogh and More.

It seems to me that the Butterfly Conservatory shares certain similarities with an art exhibition.

They both feature works of beauty. The butterflies are beautiful and colourful. They are natural works of beauty. They are like living art. I stood mesmerized looking at the butterflies for an hour-and-a-half.



Several paintings at Mystical Landscapes were enthralling. One painting in particular that I enjoyed was Van Gogh’s “Starry Night Over the Rhone.” I stood mesmerized looking at this painting for minutes on end. I marvelled at how Van Gogh depicted the reflection of twinkling stars over water at night. Van Gogh’s painting is a man-made work of beauty.


  
Both places attract a respectful crowd.  In a video, visitors to the Butterfly Conservatory were cautioned to watch their step in case they were to inadvertently step on a butterfly. Butterflies are delicate creatures. Visitors were advised that if they wanted to move a butterfly in their pathway, that they offer their finger rather than picking up a butterfly by their wings. An orange butterfly parked itself on my friend’s finger. Butterflies are gentle creatures. My friend got up close and personal with this butterfly and took a picture on his smartphone just inches away from this butterfly. A grey butterfly parked itself on my blue-checkered shirt. I was so thrilled to have a butterfly visit me that I didn’t move for several minutes so that I wouldn’t disturb the butterfly. Everyone was so respectful and no one batted at the butterflies!  At Mystical Landscapes, everyone was respectful as well. No pushing and shoving. Everyone found their own best vantage point to see a painting and respectfully maneuvered themselves around other visitors. Visitors spoke in hushed tones.  

You feel transported at both places. The Butterfly Conservatory was a calm and relaxing place.  You feel transported from any worries you might have. Similarly at the art exhibition I found myself transported by paintings. I asked myself how does the artist’s painting make me feel? What inspired the artist to paint their painting? 

The Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls is a hidden gem. It opened in 1996 and yet I just learned about this place a couple of weeks ago.

If you are planning a trip to Niagara Falls, be sure to visit the Butterfly Conservatory. It’s a short 20-25 minute bus ride from Clifton Hill (a famous attraction in Niagara Falls) to the Butterfly Conservatory. Once there, you can see colourful and beautiful butterflies in a natural lush setting. You feel transported. Any worries you might have disappear in this place that inspires awe and curiosity.    

   

Also Published on LinkedIn on: August 6, 2017
  
Image Credits:

Banner is from Pixabay

Banded orange butterfly at the Butterfly Conservatory - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Parks_Butterfly_Conservatory

Van Gogh’s "Starry Night Over the Rhone" - https://www.vangogh.net/starry-night-over-the-rhone.jsp



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comfort Zone

Image
Yesterday I did something that was out of the ordinary for me.   I signed up for an 8 week improv class with the  Bad Dog Theatre Company . The idea for attending such a class was suggested to me when I attended  DisruptHRToronto  (a networking event) where I heard a speaker named Lori Pearlstein on December 1, 2016. Ms. Pearlstein owns a company called  Playworks .  Ms. Pearlstein’s company provides improv classes to corporate clients and helps people to improve their public speaking, team building and brainstorming skills. I thought to myself that improv is something that I would like to try. As is usual with me, I filed the suggestion away in my head perhaps to re-visit in the future. I was talking to a friend of mine and we were talking about food preferences. He noted that I could be more adventurous when it came to food. Point well-taken.    I wrote a LinkedIn post called “ Ham .”...
Read more

Human Nature

Image
Yesterday (June 19th) was very hot and humid in Toronto, and Environment Canada issued a heat alert. Today promises to be another hot and humid day with the humidex expected to rise to 40 degrees Celsius. When it’s hot in Toronto, we wish for winter and cooler weather; and when it’s winter, we wish for summer and warmer weather.  I suppose this wishful thinking of thinking the grass is always greener somewhere else is a part of human nature. When we’re working, we think wouldn’t it be nice if we had more leisure time, and when you’re in transition (like me), you think wouldn’t it be nice if we were working? When I was working at Combined Insurance, that’s all I thought about was work.  Never thought about stopping and reflecting on things.  In transition I’ve seen the other side (the leisure side), and I know that when I find a job, that I’d want more of a balance between working hard and pursuing leisure activities (maybe going to see a Toronto Bl...
Read more

Positivity...Let me count the ways

Image
In a previous post “ Always On My Mind ” I mentioned to job seekers to “stay hopeful and positive.” I would like to expand on how exactly job seekers (or anyone else for that matter) can “stay positive.” First I’m reminded of a  FISH! Philosophy  tenet of “Choose Your Attitude.” We can choose to have a positive attitude in a number of ways. Be nice to yourself   We can’t always feel positive (or up or cheery) all of the time. Sometimes we feel down.  I suggest that we accept that we feel down at this moment and that this feeling won’t last forever. We can think to ourselves that things will feel brighter tomorrow. Give yourself permission to feel down at this moment and take comfort that tomorrow is another day.  We can do some basic things to take care of ourselves: get enough rest, drink lots of water, eat healthy, get some exercise, etc. Other than these things, we can participate in activities that...
Read more