I discovered Reality has a surprising amount of detail via Tom Critchlow, and I like how he writes in detail about how reality has a lot of details, but most of the time we miss these details because as individuals we have a limited perspective, we get used to things and the way we work so we develop blindness, hence:
This means it’s really easy to get stuck. Stuck in your current way of seeing and thinking about things. Frames are made out of the details that seem important to you. The important details you haven’t noticed are invisible to you, and the details you have noticed seem completely obvious and you see right through them. This all makes makes it difficult to imagine how you could be missing something important.
I often get stuck too, getting too ingrained in my ways of perceiving, habits and routines. I tend to miss out on a lot of what reality can offer because my perceived reality is unpleasant.
That’s why I relate a lot to Patrick writing about photographer Scott Bourne who had to radically change the way he works because his age and health can no longer support carrying the heavy telelens required for his wildlife photography. So he switched to toy photography using small, fixed lens. I have had to be creative about how I work and express myself creatively due to ongoing changes in my health. I had to adjust from working through one long sitting to multiple short sittings, sometimes I can’t write so I take photos, other times I cook and now I am learning to draw.
It is difficult to let go of something that has formed the backbone of our identities for so long, but the quicker we can adjust to the change reality requires, the less we suffer and perhaps we may surprise ourselves with new spaces and dimensions. Learning to take photos and draw has widened my perspective, making me realise there is truly a lot more we can see if we take our time and look closely.
He also writes about trying to break the depressive cycle through small daily acts, which I’ve been trying to practice as well. Some days I try a new food stall, other days I watch a youtube video to learn something new – even if I cannot do anything else. It is ultimately an act of self-love for me, to do something for my self/soul regardless of the circumstances. The easy way out is simply to let myself spiral into despair, but just like I practice running by taking one step after another, I attempt to bring life to myself by just doing one small life-giving thing. It is a muscle to build, I believe.
Lastly Roy Tang writes that we can write about anything, which is of course a view I strongly advocate for as well. I like this story he tells about his friend:
Recently a friend who is a very serious figure in certain business circles started tweeting about one of her fandom “ships”. Later on she mentioned that some people had suggested she set up an “alt” account for her fandom stuff because it “detracts from her image”. Her response: “Thanks but I don’t think any of my fandoms detract anything from my accomplishments. Normalize being true to your geeky fanfic reading die hard shipper self AND kicking ass.”
Yes pls, normalise being true to your hobbies and interests and your whole self – also why I refuse to have dozens of different instagram accounts and websites for each of my interests. Everything I do is intertwined in some way and I can’t slice myself cold into separate slices.
We have to write about anything and everything to widen each other’s narrow perspectives, to express the amazing amount of detail that reality has, to normalise being whole persons, that having a wide variety of interests can be a good thing, because everything will ultimately feed into who we are and what we create.