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Sunset

"Sunsets are proof that endings can often be beautiful too."

Sunset Between Buildings

For a few minutes, the sky is a spectacle of color and then it's gone. Every sunset, reminds me that another day has passed and a day that I survived filled with challenges and realizations in life that I encountered. Studies show that appreciating natural beauty may boost well-being, increase generosity and enhance life satisfaction. The key is to actively engage with the experience. To reap the rewards of that sunset, you need to stop whatever else you’re doing and really notice and appreciate the show in the sky.

Manresa By the Sea - Retreat House

Top view from People's Park

I read an article about the benefits of sunset gazing.Allowing yourself to be captivated by a sunset may have a number of psychological benefits. There are three benefits and these are emotional well-being, concern for others and satisfaction with life. In emotional well-being, generally people who feel connected with nature report being happier and having more positive emotions than those who don’t share this connection. Yet it’s clear that some people get more joy from an hour in the park than others. Also concern for others, the positive emotions aroused by natural beauty led to increased prosociality — feelings and behaviors characterized by concern for others. In one experiment, volunteers first looked at pictures of nature scenes and then played a game, which allowed them to be generous or stingy about giving away points to other players. The nature images had been pre-rated to determine how beautiful people thought they were. Volunteers who viewed beautiful nature images gave away more points, compared to those who viewed less attractive pictures.

In short, it wasn’t just looking at nature that put people in a generous mood. It was perceiving the beauty of nature and a sunset is a prime example of that. Lastly being satisfied with life, Beauty enriches life, making it more rewarding. One study(link is external)found that greater engagement with beauty was associated with higher levels of life satisfaction, gratitude and a spiritual outlook. The association was strongest for engagement with natural beauty, as compared to artistic beauty (such as a painting, symphony or poem) or moral beauty (such as an act of charity, loyalty or kindness).
One theory is that appreciation for the beauty of nature is so powerful because it’s instinctual rather than learned. There’s a natural tendency to stop and stare at a breathtaking sunset. When you do so, you’re likely to be caught up in the moment, and your mind gets a break from fretting over the past or worrying about the future. Afterward, you feel refreshed, and life just seems a little better.

Sunset at Tubigon Port, Bohol

View from the 6th floor of AdDU

My purpose in capturing every glorious sunset is to remember what happened that day and to remind myself to enjoy the little things in my life, because one day I will look back and realize that those little things were the big things in my life.

article source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/minding-the-body/201407/how-admiring-the-sunset-changes-you-the-better