Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Peripheral Vision of the Unfamiliar

I've often wondered about the jadedness of the familiar - how a spectacular view once a source of awe and bewilderment can often times become so familiar and almost mentally obsolete in its power to move.  Like the fading attributes of enchantment and passion, it becomes dulled by time, a repetitive mental stimuli that has lost it's very essence and meaning.  But why is this?  How does something which has the power to stimulate passion and awe succumb to the "elements" of time, as if eroded by the wind and rain that crumbles the mountains of our psyche?

Although this seemingly mysterious phenomenon seems like a reasonable question to ask, I did not come by this at first thought through this question, but rather happened to observe the reciprocally opposite effect as I embarked on a journey through unfamiliar territory.  I took a road trip, you see, to break away from the bonds of familiarity so to speak, hence the need to write, hence the start of this so called blogging task that seems to be the rage these days.  I feel the need to mentally explore other avenues of the mind to ease the normal anxieties associated with the unknown...a need to explore the periphery of the unfamiliar...

Henceforth, as I traveled to new and exciting places and experiences, I am beset with grand unfamiliar vistas on the road traveling from one state to the next, specifically driving across the country through the Midwest.

What came to mind (which by the way has been somewhat dully noted in the back of my mind years before, but had never bothered to take full mental note) in being presented with these unfamiliar places is that there is a distinct physical phenomenon that occurs when the mind and the eye are confronted with an unfamiliar scene.  One can clearly notice that when confronted with a new place, the mind and eye literally become "wide eyed", as if adjusting the wide angle lens mechanism inside our heads, and low and behold, our "tunnel vision" is averted to take in the whole of the unfamiliar.  I believe this is point of fact a direct result of the unknown beyond what is physically visible to the eye.  On the one hand, when an unfamiliar scene is presented before us, there is a source of bewilderment, a curiosity and our mind becomes creative and constructs dreamlike environmental "avatars" of what's beyond the visible.  Our minds literally opens up all the possibilities it can muster.  This I believe is akin to reading a book, where our mind is given free reign to design as world architects of a world of our own making.

Oppositely, when confronted with a FAMILIAR scene where what's beyond the corner on either side, what is to the left and beyond, what is to the right and beyond, and what is beyond those buildings, that hill, that horizon, - the mind constructs the KNOWN virtual world inside our heads, and the longing for exploration, of what's beyond and the inquisitiveness disappears.  The mind shuts down creatively, and neglects to concern itself with what is tried and known - that tree will always be there, that rock or that building I've seen a million times and don't need to concern time and effort to "explore" it - it will always be there, nothing new to see.  As a result, our vision narrows into that all too familiar "tunnel vision" that unfortunately is the default state of condition of our modern lives.  We only concern ourselves with what is directly in our line of sight tunnel vision for our minds is concerned only with the task at hand that needs to be done, with nary an exploration or "idea" constructed or the need to be creative.

With this knowledge, I begin to understand the wonderment of the unknown and the unfamiliar, and consciously begin to "see" to the edges and periphery of my vision.  I take note of what's beyond on the corner of my eyes, and take note, and not just of specifics, but of taking it all in, as if a work of art.  Life is a work of art that is constantly in motion and changing.  I take it all in and notice the "big picture" and see the "themes" that tie it all together, and feel the continuum of its majesty, it's grand design, and absorb it fully.  For me, this is what a road trip is all about. It is absorbing the unfamiliar, to gain a better perspective of ourselves and our place in our environment.

One other fact, it is not just to the left or to the right that I take note of things, it is also what is above and below - to look up once in a while, of what's beyond, before, after, the past, the present, and of what's in the future...