Community Post: Why a Beautiful Workspace Matters

As I look to my right, I see rolling hills covered with snow outside my window and the sun is shining brilliantly. A little while ago I took my dog out to play in the snow because I need a beauty break. Earlier this morning, on my way to errands, I pulled up this song on my iPhone and cranked it through my car stereo.

My soul craves beauty.

When I decorated my counseling office, I paid a lot of attention to having the right kind of light, furniture, and fabrics. I hung award-winning photographs of nature in various seasons. I refuse to use the fluorescent lights, and resort to four lamps that create just the right ambiance.

On the surface, beauty appears to have no function. It doesn’t keep us warm or pay the bills. Yet, surrounding myself with beauty whether it is smells, music, art, fabric, or lighting is critical to me. I think it should be important to everyone. Here’s why:

*You spend a lot of time in your workspace. If you’re in a place that makes you feel good, you’ll enjoy being there. Thomas Moore says, “Living artfully might require taking the time to buy things with soul…Good linens, a special rug, or a simple teapot can be a source of enrichment…” (Care of the Soul)

*Beauty changes brain waves. Beauty causes relaxation. Relaxation is required for the prefrontal cortex (the thinking part) of the brain to light up. Stress makes it shut down. The rhythm and beat of music also changes brain waves. Medical researchers have even discovered that patients who listen to music showed marvelous responses such as reduced blood pressure and heart rate, less need for pain medication, and reduction of stress hormones.

*Beauty causes you to be mindful and grateful. Mindfulness just means you’re living in the moment. Studies have found that as levels of engagement with beauty increase, a person’s gratitude grows stronger, spiritual transcendence grows loftier, and life is more satisfying in general. Gratitude and mindful is linked with happiness, and happy people are more productive.

*Beauty relaxes the soul and harkens spirituality. Ian Morgon Cron wrote about Saint Francis’ quest for beauty in Chasing Francis: “Beauty can break a heart and make it think about something more spiritual than the mindless routine we go through day after day to get by. Francis was a singer, a poet, an actor. He knew that the imagination was a stealth way into people's souls, a way to get all of us to think about God. For him, beauty was its own apologetic. That's why a church should care about the arts. They inspire all of us to think about the eternal.” Years ago, at a cozy bed and breakfast in Vermont, I had a discussion with our server: “I didn’t used to believe in God,” he said. “But seeing Van Gogh’s Starry Night made me believe that maybe there could be a God.”

*Beauty gives us joy and meaning. Psychologists have discovered that people who are open to the beauty and excellence around them are more likely to find joy, meaning, and profound connections in their lives. John Eldredge said, “We need to drink in beauty wherever we can get it – in music, in nature, in art, in a great meal shared. These are all gifts to us from God’s generous heart. Friends, those things are not decorations to a life; they bring us life.” (Waking the Dead)

Check out these 15 Beautiful Workspaces.

And these.

How important is beauty to your work environment?

Lucille Zimmerman is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a private practice in Littleton, CO and an affiliate faculty professor at Colorado Christian University. She is also the author of Renewed: Finding Your Inner Happy in an Overwhelmed World.

This article is part of The High Calling series, Creating Beauty at Work. While brightly painted walls or sleek, modern furniture might lighten our mood and inspire creativity, investing in the people we work with, helping them to bring the best of who they are and caring about them even when they can’t, is at the heart of a beautiful workplace. Are you or someone you know feeling a little lackluster about your work environment? Before you buy a new framed print for the wall, try complimenting your cubicle mate or saying thank you to the janitor. Or start a conversation with a coworker by emailing or sharing one of the articles in our series.