Your brain is like a house. It has lots of rooms dedicated to different functions, circuits and wires connecting everything together, and lights going on and off at all hours.
(Hampstead, London, 2012. All photos by LBG.)
Right in the middle of it all, there's a command center where you sit and make all the decisions. I like to think that mine looks something like this.
(Home House, London, 2012.)
In a perfect world, your brain runs smoothly and with synchronicity. This means that while one part of your brain is cooking breakfast, another part is taking out the trash and another part is doing their homework without complaining.
It's important to keep all your rooms organized, but whooo-eee, it ain't easy.
(My brain on a good day, 2012.)
Stress, sleeplessness and lack of exercise (yes, I'm speaking personally) can turn everything upside down in an instant.
(My brain on the average day.)
Well, we can look to other rooms for inspiration.
Take Jean Cocteau's house in the South of France, for example.
(Photographs by Annie Schlecter.)
In this room we can see how important fresh air and sunlight are for a PMA (positive mental attitude).
In this room we are reminded that with balance, spirit and a good sense of proportion we can tackle any number of things at once.
And in this room we are reminded that we are what we fill ourselves with. Inspiration in, inspiration out.
18 comments:
I am little worried that my brain on a great day looks like your brain on an average day...
Now I am wondering what Martha Stewart's brain looks like - I mean that literally - there has to be something in that brain that makes her rooms look the way they do - Have you seen her "craft" room? I bet her cortexes and synapses are out of control. : )
Coulda shoulda woulda:
You are too funny! xx
Architecture as a metaphor for an organised (or otherwise) mind... very nice :) I would like to think my mind is early Georgian architecture.
Ha, my brain only looks like the streamlined version when I'm asleep - I'm craving some of that sunshine right now.
Also, thanks so much for linking to my blog!
Lisa I will remember this for a long time. A friend has been helping me organize my study/office. Wow the stuff we threw out!
Now to keep up the good work...so less stressful! Love your images!
xoxo
Karena
2013 Artists Series
You know those rooms in the Sir John Soane house where everything is beautifully higglety-pigglety one over the other and on top of everything else but you wouldn't know which one to remove if you thought and thought for days and days?
That's my brain.
Another lovely post, thank you for these reading moments that keep feeding one´s imagination1.
So wise Lisa. The operative word for me is sunlight! I have to say, while living through a complete remodel, no wonder I want to sleep all the time. You are brilliant! x
I've just been watching a BBC programme called The Riviera. A history in Pictures including Jean Cocteau's house on the Cote d'Azur, presented by Richard E Grant. Try and see it if you can, both for the fascinating (for me) history of art created there in recent times, (C20th), and the spectacular scenery and weather, which inspired so many of them.
Terrific metaphor. Today my mind resembles an MC Escher style room. Too many things on the agenda.
I know you are talking about rooms of the mind and how jumbly they can be some days, but speaking of the entire person as a house I am reminded of this:
"There is an Indian proverb or axiom that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but, unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person."
— Rumer Godden in A House with Four Rooms
hi there! i'm your newest follower...thanks to a good friend who directed me here. i live in paris with my husband and 4 children and i'm taking the train to london..all alone this weekend! persephone book store is a must for me since reading through your blog. thank you!
Wise advice Lisa... I need to take it...:) xv
I keep rearranging my rooms. That's how I organize. Hey, the dining table should be in the back of the house. now it's all backwards. I should just mural the rooms of my house. Fabulous post.
It does help if you are living in the South of France! Sunshine, open window, la la la. I love how you have put this post together. My good day room would have to include flowers.
They say that God, or the universe if you prefer, shows you what you need. I'm not sure how I got here after seven hours of mind numbing creative blog jumping and pinning. Thank you!! A better way to look at yourself than your home is a reflection of your state of mind. Your version is more positive. It's time to open up the rooms and air everything out. Well...I think cleaning or tossing everything out would work better. It is time.
What a rich and beautiful illustration of subtle concept. And yes! Inspiration in, Inspiration out!
Using rooms as a metaphor for an organized and somewhat messed up mind is brilliant! I think my mind on a normal day is the same as my brain on a working day, all disorganized. Haha! I believe that inspiration is everywhere and we just have to be influenced by these things for us to be moved by these concepts or subjects.
Clinton Hurlburt
Post a Comment