Things You Learn If You Pay Attention

There is some science out there realizing one who is described, as ‘artist’, is different from what was expected.

Whether it is mental health or just an extra chromosome, we are different.

While others sit and wonder why, we express ourselves. While others look on, we perform the history, dreams, good and bad of life, seemingly to understand the mystery.

Much of my life I don’t remember.

I can relate to certain dates and places but can’t remember who else was there or what we did.

Yet, I can remember the wallpaper design. The smell of oil ties a connection between living in the mountains and living at the beach. Flashes of images, either recorded in my mind or on paper, give glimpses of a past without sub-titles.

Can you look at a photo and remember the feel of the clothing.

Sensory overload happens when I walk into a room. A room I may have entered a dozen times, my senses gather the lights and shadows, the sounds and the smells, the feel of the room.

Overwhelmed with places to look and explore like opening a book and flipping through the pages. Not only do I see the photos hanging on the wall, but also I notice how they are hung, the placement, the order, the frames, and the mats. The subject of the photo or artwork and how it matches the wall color and the surrounding adornments is more than interior design, but personal taste.

Museums are a difficult traverse. Though designed to be unobtrusive to the artwork, the pedestals, cameras, lighting, sounds of the footsteps and the whispered breathing of participants in this cathedral of artistic presentation become the experience.

There is probably a psychological ‘ism’ for this absorption of awareness, but it is the artist curse.

Don’t lose it in the day-to-day boring rush to check and see if anyone sent you a text about some food they ate or how their baby pooped.

It is a gift.