How to be a tourist.
I am sure you have been a tourist once in a while. Whenever we are at work, we are just routine men and women. When we step on a foreign land, we become tourists. And it is time to relax and enjoy. Here I will discuss how and why we all should be tourists in our own city. So, we will start with why?
Why become a tourist?
If you are in a major city like London or New York tourists are a common sight. Have you taken time to observe people walking? If you haven't, I suggest you do so. Sit in a quiet corner of a coffeehouse where you can observe the streets. While enjoying your coffee, note your observations. Check whether they are similar to mine.
You will notice you can identify tourists by their appearance. Obviously by ethnicity. However, ethnicity is not much a giveaway nowadays as in major cities they are blended. Most likely you will spot tourists by their mannerism. Look at how they walk, a tourist would walk like they are walking in the park! Even if it is a busy suburb. Looking at every shop, every letter box and monument. They are in no hurry. Walking like they have all the time in the world. Slow pace. Not only that if you notice their faces, but they also smile while walking. At least pleasant. No stress visible. Their gaze is not fixed on the tiles of the floor or the corner of the street. I am sure they remember most of the things happened during this day effortlessly. Even crows and garbage cans are not going to spoil their day.
Now compared to this someone who is native, is going to walk. With a busy stressful gloomy face, and they don't have time to observe what a tourist does. They are straight fixed and like fire. And I am sure you dare not to bump into one of them. So, there is nothing new for them to see in their own city. Same old corners, same old monuments, same tourists' day after day congesting their streets.
If you think about this wisely you would understand what differs is the attitude, or the context. As so-called tourists will follow same routine that you follow, in their own cities.
If given a choice, what would you become? I am sure there is no doubt in that. We all like to let the child like curiosity of a tourist to flourish within ourselves if given a choice. The real question is are we given a choice?
How to be a tourist in your own city?
I can point out several ways. But the main ingredient is novelty created by mindfulness. Mindfulness is the method we can tap into the childhood curiosity of the mind. It is inherently present in all of us, just we have to awaken this. When you are mindful about the fact that the walk to home you are taking today is not the walk you took yesterday, as suggested by random walk, you know there are plenty of things to see. Even a polluted drain, or a brick wall, or an old oak tree could inspire you to be creative. You can take a fresh breath of air, in the morning and exhale fast, to see the water vapors get crystalized in the midair and be amazed in this winter. You can get down from your bus before your stop, or after your bus stop, and take a little walk in unknown parts of your neighborhood and be amazed how things have changed slowly. Or make it a true paradigm shift. No, you don't need company to do this, as your best friend is you. If you smile with yourself observing the city, same city which you thought, steal your time and energy, you notice that it is absolutely wrong. There is much more to appreciate in your own city, you will become a tourist in your own city. When you hear sounds, listen mindfully. When you walk on the pavement, take steady slow steps, break the routine pattern of walking, make it a zig zag just for the sake of it. Stop for a while, walk backwards. It doesn't matter if your Neighbours see, as you are being a tourist in your own city. I am sure this does not end there. But I think you get the idea; it's about changing your attitude on your own city. And mind your mindfulness is like a disease, and when you are cheerful, everyone around you will be ill with happiness, otherwise a rough day.
Why?
As you can see, I do write about everyday life, as I have felt the same. I have been stuck up in same nihilistic, boring tempo of life just like you. Just like you I want to break free. However, if you look at the statistics, no matter how hard we try, it is inevitable that majority of us will die as pretty normal, middle-class people as 8-5 daily paid workers. Still, there should be something to rejoice, as we all are gifted with a consciousness of our own, and ability to value anything on our own, we ourselves can create our own values. It doesn't have to be valuable enough to hang on the walls of the central art gallery, but we can paint a picture of a beautiful alley in our own minds. We can do this only when we know how our values are generated. And let's be mindful about this today.
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