I was walking with Adam through the lovely streets of Odense. He was giving me a small tour through the city center. He showed me the house where Hans Christian Andersen was born. We just visited what Adam called ‘the most awesome shop in the world’ (which admittedly, was pretty awesome). Now we were walking back from the park. He explained that Odense was a rather quiet town and there wasn’t really that much to see. I thought about how your hometown can often seem somewhat dull in the face of bigger or more exotic cities. I thought about how generally speaking Denmark wasn’t that much different from the Netherlands. I thought about all the things I just saw: the 3D mermaid painting on the street, the giant butterflies in the park, the silly mural painting on the old theatre and all the statues covered in yarn bombs. There were funny street names, unexpected colour palettes, hidden shops and hip coffee corners. I has seen so many things that were just the slightest bit different in their own quirky way. I tried to explain my experience in this foreign town: ‘If something is even a tiny bit different, it becomes more interesting.’
Then it suddenly hit me that this is the case for almost anything in life. It rings true for art, for design, for people, for houses, cities, cultures, food and life style. It also implies that it really isn’t that hard to make your own life more interesting. Just change something, anything. If you are generally happy about your life, but wish you had a more social life, go out, invest in people and change it around. If you feel like you are in a rut, simply mix things up: shop at a different store, create a new morning routine, take a different way to your work or do something that you normally wouldn’t.
There might be people you find intriguing. What makes them fascinating? Is it their appearance, their attitude towards life, their quirky habits or the way they speak? Try to expose yourself to slightly different experiences, things and people. You will find that this habit alone will make your life a lot more interesting.
What part of your life would you like to make more interesting? How could start doing this today?
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8 Comments
Niken
September 21, 2014 at 09:39
What a gorgeous city! my favorite is that underworld painting on the pavement. so cool!
magicaldaydream
September 22, 2014 at 14:13
It is such a playful city! There is lots of art and playgrounds around!
Cat
September 22, 2014 at 10:14
Such a great post! One of the reasons I love reading your blog is that you always seem approach everyday things with a slight slant which makes them so much more interesting. I live in London and I recently took a holiday in Slovenia. So many people I know seemed to be going away on massive back packing trips to India or Cambodia, and I felt that perhaps travelling within Europe wouldn’t be as exciting, as it seems more culturally familiar (I know that sounds very spoilt and fussy). However, it was such an incredibly beautiful country, and it was amazing how different a place that is only 2hrs flight away can be. I love looking at all the little details that alter our day to day lives in ways we might not even expect. I think you are so right, if we just brought the level of awareness and openness to observing the world around us in our own cities that we have on holiday, we would enjoy them so much more!
magicaldaydream
September 22, 2014 at 14:14
Yes! I can relate to that so much. I visited Serbia earlier this year and I had a similar experience. I always love going to new places, however close or far for this reason :)
Kim
September 23, 2014 at 17:20
awesome art! thanks for always sharing your encouragement and inspiration :)
Uncustomary Art
October 3, 2014 at 16:42
Yes! So much diversity with mediums! This is perfect. Thanks so much for sharing.
spudart
October 3, 2014 at 21:09
To answer your question, “What part of your life would you like to make more interesting? How could start doing this today?” Let’s see, I wish I was connected with more artists. Thus, I should start going to meetups where I can meet artists.
OH snap! I just visited the Chicago Artists Coalition website, and realized that it’s Chicago Artist Month! What perfect timing! Thank you for inspiring me, Mariëlle!
magicaldaydream
October 6, 2014 at 07:54
Yay! I love it when the timing on these things is perfectly aligned :D Good luck with meeting fun interesting people!