What does it mean… take time, wander, explore, experience something new?
There is something to be said for wandering. Having no place to be, no end in sight, no final destination. Taking in the city you live with fresh eyes. Catching a glimpse of the old anew, spotting the minute, details that you had never noticed before on your daily walk to work.
Often wandering is frowned upon. I, by no means recommend a wandering mind in a meeting, or wandering into a dark alley at night, but the serenity and contemplative nature of being able to just let free of all your inhibitions and just go. It becomes about a journey of discovery, often enlightenment.
In A Field Guide To Getting Lost, author Rebecca Solnit explains “Losing things is about the familiar falling away, getting lost is about the unfamiliar appearing” she goes on to compare the city to “resemble a conscious mind, a network that can calculate, administrate, manufacture.” On a recent bout I found that in every tucked away corner of the city there was a true to life innovation. Small, incremental changes and adaptations of existing products to better suit the needs of its user.
Posted by DONG XI – January 11, 2009
