Looking with Fresh Eyes - An Antidote to the Lockdown

Photo by Roozbeh Badizadegan on Unsplash

The Coronavirus pandemic has certainly brought great stress to many people. Many of us have been or are now locked down with little room for movement, which can lead to frustration and depression. Here in the UK, we are allowed limited movement in the form of exercise or essential travel, such as going to work or attending a medical appointment.

Limiting people's movement will help control the spread of the virus and help bring it under control.

With such limited movement, it can become very boring as we see the familiar sights around us, and that led me to write this post, Looking with Fresh Eyes.

When we see the same things day in, day out we might actually be missing something. These might be small or even large details that we might be pleasantly surprised to see if we take a second look with fresh eyes. How many times have you walked along a path and then after a considerable number of journeys suddenly spotted something that has always been there, but you had not seen? Maybe if you were with someone on that journey, they pointed out an object that you had never noticed before? It happens a lot.

We are often blinkered into seeing what we want to see, or in our rush to get somewhere don't have the time to really take in our surroundings. The lockdown can now be a time to start looking with fresh eyes at the things around us, perhaps not only physically but also in other ways.

Let's concentrate now, though on the physical. There is a difference between our general vision and looking. We possibly see millions of things every day, which raises this question. How many objects do we really look at and get to know them? We might pass buildings with a rich history and clues embedded that we have never taken time to look at. There could be historical relics along our daily exercise routes that we miss but have been there for all to see. With each passing month, there will be different plants we don't know the names of, each with their own beauty and story to tell. If we take time to learn about just some these, we can enjoy a rich education and grow in our knowledge.

It's good to take a closer look at the area where we live and see it with fresh eyes. I recently started a YouTube channel, Roland's Travels and record my walks along routes familiar to me but see things with fresh eyes and share them with you. With a little research using the aid of Google, there hundreds of facts that can be brought to life. Usually, there are so many fascinating points that I have to keep some back for another day.

Having walked the same routes for many months has helped me use the approach of always looking with fresh eyes, which has made the lockdown more enjoyable.

Please, let me know how you are getting on with your experience of lockdown and if you too are looking with fresh eyes.