Upside Down Worlds
Fans of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things will be familiar withthe Upside Down. An alternate dimension existing in parallel to the human world controlled by the hive mind of the Mind Flayer. Spooky stuff.
Don't worry, we won't be entering a land of Demogorgons (rather ugly predatory creatures originating from the Upside Down). I'm not about to turn you into one of the ‘Flayed' and make you my mind slave.
Rest easy, my friends.
I am, however, encouraging you to get down on your hands and knees.
New Perspectives
Today's creative mindfulness exercise ‘Upside Down Worlds’ encourages us to look at the familiar with new eyes and a fresh perspective. We will look at the upside-down world that exists in parallel to our environment - one you may not have encountered before.
Seeing the familiar from new perspectives is at the heart of creativity. In 'Learning by Heart', a book about creativity by the brilliant Corita Kent & Jan Steward, they talk about the creative process as a means of making connections - how to "see the thistle for the first time and recognise its potential."
This creative mindfulness exercise is brilliant for making new connections from the everyday environment that you can apply to your work, creative process and life. It’s also a wonderful way to practice a few of the 7 attitudinal foundations of mindfulness too. Beginners mind, non-striving and acceptance.
Instructions
Our daily routine often means taking much of our environment for granted. Our houses, objects within them, the street or town we live in and sadly, the people around us.
To look afresh, let's change our perspective a little. You will need:
A pen or pencil and some paper, a notebook or sketchbook so you can draw or write about the new perspectives you take.
You can use a camera for this exercise - a rare opportunity where I'll encourage you to pull out your phone! Only the camera, though ;) Using your phone camera can be helpful if you want to zoom in on the little details or use the photos to reflect on in your note or sketchbook later.
Try to look with a small child's eyes. The world looks very different at their level.
I can still remember my Dad's reproduction antique desk, with its ornate woodwork and handles that rattled every time he opened or shut a draw. The smell of the lacquered wood and furniture polish every Saturday, when he would tidy and polish his study. His desk looked so vast and imposing. Draws were full of note pads and pens, enticing me to sprawl my naive pictures and words over them—an inviting and exciting prospect to my small child eyes.
Ways To Look At The Familiar With Fresh Eyes
Here are some suggestions for how you can look at the world around with fresh eyes and from a different perspective:
At Work
Crawl under and lookup if you're sitting at a desk. Appreciate the nuts and bolts used to build the desk or chair that supports you.
Get down on your hands and knees and look at the floor. Have you ever noticed the fibres in the carpet or detail on the tiles you walk on every day?
Outside
Perhaps you're out walking. Is there a bench you pass every day that you've never sat on? A bus stop you've never waited in?
Then sit or stand for a moment. What do you notice?
In Nature
Stand or sit under a tree and look up through its branches.
Take a leaf, turn it over to look at its underside.
Tackle a hill you've never walked before and admire the view from the top.
Lay down on your belly and look through the blades of grass (one of my favourite perspectives).
At Home
Try a different seat if you sit in the same chair to watch TV at the office or the dinner table. Swap places with your family or colleagues.
Perhaps stand up to watch the telly.
Or sit on the floor to eat your dinner.
Most of all, have fun!
Ask a family member or partner to lay upside down and look at their face, so their chin becomes the top of their head. Ask them to talk or sing. This particular activity usually ends up fits of giggles in my house!
Extra step: draw a pair of eyes or stick some googly ones on their chin.
Investigate & Record
This mindful creative exercise is simply about noticing and looking with an open mind.
Once you have found a perspective you enjoy, spend 5 to 10 minutes drawing it. You could recreate the view as you look up through the trees or get detailed and draw a close up of a bolt-on chair.
It's fun to play with size here too. Draw an entire scene in a 2 inch / 5cm square box on an A4 piece of paper.
Or draw something small like a bolt or screw, so it takes up a double-page spread of your sketchbook.
There are no limits here.
Here’s some examples from a day of different perspectives I took:
My upside-down world, clockwise from top left: a new route on my daily walk, the underside of a tradescantia leaf, close up of a dead leaf on a cold autumn morning, looking up through the ceiling light in my living room, looking up through the handle of the oven, looking up through the leaves of a peace lily, bolts on my dining table.
Reflection & Inquiry
Try to describe how this new perspective makes you feel through your drawing or writing when you do this exercise.
Small, big, empowered, in awe, surprised?
Does looking at the world from different perspectives make you appreciate the mundane things we often pass by without thought?
How can you bring new perspectives to your daily life?
How could you make this way of looking a habit that helps you enjoy a sense of wonder in your everyday life?
Because ultimately, life is all about perspective.
And Finally…
A poem that invites us to consider the perspective of an insect and how they might see the world:
The Fly
by Walter De la Mare
How large unto the tiny fly
Must little things appear!-
A rosebud like a feather bed,
Its prickle like a spear;
A dewdrop like a looking-glass,
A hair-like golden wire;
The smallest grain of mustard-see
As fierce as coals of fire;
A loaf of bread, a lofty hill;
A wasp, a cruel leopard;
And specks of sale as bright to see
As lambkins to a shepherd.
I’d love to see what you create and the new perspectives you take. Email your images and thoughts to info@georgiestclair.com or tag me @georgiestclair on Instagram
Have an inspired day!
Georgie x