When I am on holiday I find it quite easy to explore the place I am visiting. I get out and about and walk for ages, stopping to investigate anything that looks the slightest bit different or interesting.
Walking along the beach I stand and stare at the patterns in the wet sand left by the retreating waves or take photo after photo of the seagulls in flight or the different colours of the setting sun, trying for the picture that best captures the mood of the day. When in a new town I’m likely to wander up and down the side streets seeing if I can find the cute little café, gift shop or gallery I have seen advertised in a brochure at the information centre.
But on a day-to-day basis it is just so much easier to go to town by the same route, shop at my usual supermarket or drive straight down the main road, not even wondering what is down the side streets and never noticing the sign for the local café, picture theatre, gallery, nursery or orchard all within easy reach of where I live.
We humans are creatures of habit. We tend to get up at the same time each day, have the same thing for breakfast, shower and get dressed without taking much notice of the automatic choices we are making.
How different it is when we actually stop and think about what we are doing and take our time to look at what is right there under our noses. For a few moments we allow our attention to be captured by a new sight or sound or we feel renewed by participating in a new activity.
What new experiences make life seem fresh and help you to feel more alive and energised?
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