Travels
Summer of travel. The first time I ever left the country I felt like I discovered aspects of myself that only a trip to Russia in the dead of winter could reveal. I assumed I was an uptight person before this trip. Further travels unveiled that, in fact, there are many sides to Kelly to be found, in many different places. It’s probably not that strange that breaking from the automatic rhythms of my days provides a distanced perspective on the busyness that occupies my life. Travel seems to provide me with the seemingly paradoxical opportunity to both let go and become more intentional. I seem to drop more deeply into the moments that I’m in. I also think there’s something to be said for not having a script of practiced expectations guiding me through every event. I feel strangely excited and relaxed when I travel. It is my goal now to try to bring some of these elements to my daily living. One of the ways I’ve achieved some simblance of this is through art. I’m not talking high art, but creative endeavors of some sort. There’s something very focussng and calming about art to me-enjoying seeing it as well as doing it. I was chatting with a woman who owns an art studio the other day. We talking about how the process of art, and life for that matter, isn’t appreciated in this country. It’s all about the outcome, product. I’ve had multiple times when I share that I’m doing art-whether it’s photography or otherwise-and had some response along the lines of “I wish I had time for art”. It’s a horribly corrosive, judgemental, and dismissive type of thing to say wrapped up in a seeminly small statement. It implies a frivolty and lack of serious doing; as if being calm and finding small joy in the day is a less than meaningful endeavor. It bugs me, but I labor inwardly to leave it alone. It’s valid to me. It’s my little way of traveling while staying home.