“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
--Henry David Thoreau
There are people who are gifted when it comes to this. Children, for instance, seem to be able to see beyond the here and now, past the other less important things that usually befuddle the rest of us. Perhaps the reason why they always complain of being ‘bored,’ is because to them, time stretches on forever. Time just goes on and on because they don’t exactly keep track of all that went on before and don’t necessarily look that far ahead either. They are mostly concerned with the present. They can look at a situation, or a particular moment in time and really see it for what it is; a fleeting moment to be savored and enjoyed for it will never come their way again. Today my daughter’s ballet class got to try on their recital costumes for the first time. It was a very vivid aqua, a vision in velvet, sparkly jersey and tulle. For weeks I have been hearing about this costume for, as she would go on and on about how fabulous it was going to be. Finally today, at ballet class, she, along with a dozen other girls finally got to try the costume on. Oh boy, it was a delightful time; a bunch of eight-year olds, so ecstatic and excited about this frilly concoction of a dress. It was quite possibly the best time of their lives to date, and nothing was ever going to take it away from them. Only precious children like that can look past a costume that would otherwise be described as too gaudy by others, and see a brief moment in time in their girlhood lives, that will never come again.
Thoreau’s quote can be applied in many ways, certainly in the way we regard our lives and our homes. It is quite true in almost everything, that looks can be deceiving. People and lives are so complex, that merely looking at the surface never tells us the whole story. We have to probe deeper to really see. When we look at our homes, what do we see? There are a lot of ways that a space can be colored, arranged and decorated in order to achieve a certain ‘look,’ but what we see when we are in the room is also important. In model home design and in home staging, spaces are arranged in a way so that potential buyers are able to ‘see themselves’ living there. The ‘look’ is important, but what a person ‘sees’ supersedes everything. It may be the look of the moment, but if we can’t see ourselves living there and actually using the space, it does not work. A space should adapt and suit the people who occupy it and not the other way around. Amazing too, are artisans and humanitarians who look beyond the surface and see new possibilities. Prisonart.org (http://www.prisonart.org/) created by a person named Ed Mead, is an online outlet for the sale of artwork and craft created by prisoners. He was a former prisoner himself, and he started this non-profit service as a way of helping political prisoners and POWS raise money. In South Beach, Florida, a woman named Tessie deFelice (http://www.tessiedefelice.com/) picks up garbage on the beach and turns them into works of art. She is hoping her work will inspire conservation and bring attention to the growing problem plaguing many of the world’s water systems.Above: "Beached" Oil Painting by Judie Guglio, from http://www.prisonart.org/
There are people who are gifted when it comes to this. Children, for instance, seem to be able to see beyond the here and now, past the other less important things that usually befuddle the rest of us. Perhaps the reason why they always complain of being ‘bored,’ is because to them, time stretches on forever. Time just goes on and on because they don’t exactly keep track of all that went on before and don’t necessarily look that far ahead either. They are mostly concerned with the present. They can look at a situation, or a particular moment in time and really see it for what it is; a fleeting moment to be savored and enjoyed for it will never come their way again. Today my daughter’s ballet class got to try on their recital costumes for the first time. It was a very vivid aqua, a vision in velvet, sparkly jersey and tulle. For weeks I have been hearing about this costume for, as she would go on and on about how fabulous it was going to be. Finally today, at ballet class, she, along with a dozen other girls finally got to try the costume on. Oh boy, it was a delightful time; a bunch of eight-year olds, so ecstatic and excited about this frilly concoction of a dress. It was quite possibly the best time of their lives to date, and nothing was ever going to take it away from them. Only precious children like that can look past a costume that would otherwise be described as too gaudy by others, and see a brief moment in time in their girlhood lives, that will never come again.
Thoreau’s quote can be applied in many ways, certainly in the way we regard our lives and our homes. It is quite true in almost everything, that looks can be deceiving. People and lives are so complex, that merely looking at the surface never tells us the whole story. We have to probe deeper to really see. When we look at our homes, what do we see? There are a lot of ways that a space can be colored, arranged and decorated in order to achieve a certain ‘look,’ but what we see when we are in the room is also important. In model home design and in home staging, spaces are arranged in a way so that potential buyers are able to ‘see themselves’ living there. The ‘look’ is important, but what a person ‘sees’ supersedes everything. It may be the look of the moment, but if we can’t see ourselves living there and actually using the space, it does not work. A space should adapt and suit the people who occupy it and not the other way around. Amazing too, are artisans and humanitarians who look beyond the surface and see new possibilities. Prisonart.org (http://www.prisonart.org/) created by a person named Ed Mead, is an online outlet for the sale of artwork and craft created by prisoners. He was a former prisoner himself, and he started this non-profit service as a way of helping political prisoners and POWS raise money. In South Beach, Florida, a woman named Tessie deFelice (http://www.tessiedefelice.com/) picks up garbage on the beach and turns them into works of art. She is hoping her work will inspire conservation and bring attention to the growing problem plaguing many of the world’s water systems.Above: "Beached" Oil Painting by Judie Guglio, from http://www.prisonart.org/
Amazing too, are artisans and humanitarians who look beyond the surface and see new possibilities. Prisonart.org (http://www.prisonart.org/) created by a person named Ed Mead, is an online outlet for the sale of artwork and craft created by prisoners. He was a former prisoner himself, and he started this non-profit service as a way of helping political prisoners and POWS raise money. In South Beach, Florida, a woman named Tessie deFelice (http://www.tessiedefelice.com/) picks up garbage on the beach and turns them into works of art. She is hoping her work will inspire conservation and bring attention to the growing problem plaguing many of the world’s water systems.
They say seeing is believing. Today my daughter showed me exactly the way she sees life: bright, colorful, frothy and very sparkly. She and those girls danced like there was no tomorrow. It was an unforgettable scene, one where she twirled and danced and made me see, that life is indeed a stage, and we should play our parts to the hilt. It was the past, the present and the future coming together, in one quick dance; nostalgic, wonderful and promising, and I saw it with my own eyes.
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