This week in our Shape & Shine bootcamp, we asked our members to do something simple: go outside and take a photo of something purple in nature.
It sounds like a lighthearted little challenge. And it was. But it also turned into something unexpectedly powerful.
Being present doesn’t have to mean meditation
When you’re out walking and looking for a colour, you naturally start to slow down. You notice more. The shape of a leaf. The texture of bark. The way a flower catches the light.
That’s presence. Not silence or stillness, but attention. And it changes how you feel.
Movement becomes more meaningful when it connects to something else
We could just tell people to go for a walk. But adding a layer of curiosity makes it different. That 30-minute walk becomes a kind of treasure hunt. You look up. You look around. And that moment of fresh air becomes more than steps on a tracker.
Beauty is always there – if we’re looking for it
One lady found purple in a plant she’d never noticed, even though she walks past it every day. Someone else snapped a purple flower poking through pavement cracks. One found it in the sky at sunset. And the debate of whether bluebells are purple or, indeed, blue, kept our Bootcamp group chat well entertained for days.
What we realised this week is that life doesn’t have to be big or dramatic to feel beautiful. Sometimes, the shift is in simply choosing to see it.
The smallest challenges can lead to the biggest shifts
It wasn’t really about the colour purple. It was about stepping out of autopilot. Being present. Noticing the world again.
You don’t need a camera or a challenge to do that. You just need a moment. Try this next time you go out:
Pick a colour. Any colour.
Try to find it five times on your walk.
That’s it.
You might find something beautiful. You might also find yourself feeling just a little more connected to the world again.
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