A Collection of Musings

The Manifest of Seeing

The essence of humanity is to See. Looking and truly seeing what is there, means acknowledging what is there and giving it value. At the same time the seen world gives you value, by letting itself be seen by you. It gives you value because seeing with full realisation and appreciation of what you see fulfils you and makes you whole.

Seeing is not naming. Seeing, or perhaps rather perceiving, is opening your eyes to what the world is: a combination of lines, colours, textures, patterns, balances, perspectives, possibilities, of entireties and of details. When you look at an object and define it as a vase, do you truly see it? Do you see its colour, its shape, its lines, contrasts, texture, build? Do you see how it interacts with its surroundings and how its surroundings interact with it? Do you look at it like a vase, or do you look at it as the possibility for unexpected compositions? What does the light do to what you see?

Have you ever looked at a person you know, and truly perceived them? Do so, and you will realise that they look completely different from the general image you have in your mind.

See the world as endless fleeting visual possibilities. See past the object. Perceive the essence of things, not their function. Look at the pattern, the interplay of objects, their potential, their composition, their dance, their essence. Devour the world with your eyes and you will discover a harmonious sense of being, of worth and of beauty.

See your ability to perceive as a gift, a joy. Enjoy what you see, and you will learn to see more. Don’t be afraid to not see enough, or to forget. The moment of truly perceiving is a moment of fulfilment, of wholeness and you will learn to cherish them and to hold on to them, however fleeting they may be.

Learn to see truly and honestly and you will learn to love unconditionally and without judgement, to create freely and with inspiration. See without judgement, see the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ and see the beauty in it. When you do, you will realise that there is no ‘good’ and ‘bad’, there only is. To See in this way is to Love.

Learn this, and you will free yourself.

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I wrote this a little over a year ago, when I was in the middle of writing a bundle of incredibly fun essays (yes, I actually meant that) for a course called Interpreting Art since 1900. One night I couldn't sleep, because I kept thinking about this. I actually spoke out loud about it to myself for nearly four hours, which in my sleepy state held a lot of repetition, imagining myself explaining this notion to a class of art students. I retrospect, I might have slept, since it was accompanied by a great sense of urgency. Either way, I strive to internalise this, to manage to live like this and whenever I feel as though I have completely lost track, I come back to it and read it.