I love this image, the idea, the quote – all of it. As a contact wearer since the 4th grade, it resonated deeply since I first saw it years ago and has made me pause to this day each time I have to replace my contacts. It’s almost like I have a moment of silent happiness as I throw them away thinking of all they have seen. Watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon with my mom. Laughing and dancing with friends (old and new) as the lights flashed and music blared at a bar in Paris at 3am. Watching as one of my best friends got married to her best friend. So many fantastic memories. It’s nice to have another excuse to pause to let them wash over me before moving on with my day. I have a feeling we could all use more of those excuses 😉
I was strolling through Fort Collins this past weekend when I noticed some stickers that weren’t like the normal bumper stickers I usually see. I texted Ryan, my coworker and friend, nearly immediately. A couple of months ago we had road tripped together to Vegas. Along the way, he taught me all about graffiti and the like. It sparked an interest in me as it was an entire part of the world I knew close to nothing about but have always been drawn to. He recently created a zine featuring some of the awesome work he and others have made in this graffiti world (including interviews which I loved). Of course I had to order one and, when it arrived, it had stickers like the one shown below:
Ryan immediately recognized it as a person known as Mesr. How freaking cool! Something I would have passed on the street and thought nothing of now had an entirely accessible world behind it. I now pass by trains and walk through cities with an eye towards understanding and seeing these small moments of art.
Steven is another friend who has changed the way I view the world through the way he interacts with a space. He does parkour (and was on the last season of American Ninja Warrior!) and never ceases to amaze me in how he can create a world of fun from the simplest looking space. I walk by parks and buildings in cities all over the world now thinking of what he might create with it. Sometimes I find myself sending him pictures and videos of an obstacle I know he’d like to take on.
I love when I realize that the way others see the world rubs off on me. I love slowly seeing what they see – kind of like the first time I remember looking at PHP and being able to understand it. Being able to tap into these different worlds and these different points of view has started happening more naturally to me and I couldn’t be more thrilled. It makes traveling alone a bit easier knowing I carry those ideas, visions, passions with me wherever I go.
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