Endless Inspiration…
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way”
William Blake
There is a small window of time, when you first arrive at a new place, during which you exist in a heady state of heightened perception. Your focus on the new environment is tightly sharpened and nothing escapes your notice as you absorb and catalogue the wealth of detail in a new reality where your own everyday is replaced by another: Strangely cut date palms filled with gangs of scolding green parakeets, for example, or backs of buildings encrusted with a coral landscape of air conditioners. Stones laid in novel patterns on a pathway or alien fire hydrants by the kerb, exotic smells that you cannot yet place, the typography of shop and street signs, the curve of a door handle, the colour of the litter bins, the shape of a light switch or the pattern on a passing headscarf: everything fascinates, everything is new and the world seems reborn.
The magic of travel is all about taking off the blindfold of habit and routine and opening yourself and your own perception to the incredible beauty to be found in what is most likely someone else’s mundane, everyday reality, then allowing that acquired perception to help you see your own old and familiar in a new light. The magic of works of great art or design, be they most humble or highly sophisticated, is not really much different – all new experience can offer a key to the doors of perception. If your eyes and senses are open beauty is everywhere and inspiration endless…