Put on a New Hat and Head Over to the Art Museum

Shepard Fairly's work from  Viva La Revolucion: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape.

 

I am not the kind of person who believes he is likely to experience a personal breakthrough by reading the Twilight books.  I am concluding as much only by way of Twilight’s reputation, as I have never even seen a copy.  I’m assuming that these books are this generation’s Celestine Prophecy, which I did read.  The one thing I remember from that book is to concentrate-meditate in fact-on the act of eating your food.  Focus your full attention on each bite: the flavor bursting forth, every olfactory nuance, the textures, the sound and feel of your teeth slowly gnashing each parcel of food.  Chew very deliberately and appreciate the miracle that is food.  Although I experienced no personal breakthrough, I think I lost a few pounds. 

As a younger man, when I needed to change things up/to get out of a rut, I would grab my backpack and make my way – usually with my thumb – to a wilderness area.  I’m too old for that now; and, anyway, hitchhiking doesn’t cut it these days. So, in need of a new route to clearing my cluttered cranium, I put on a new hat and headed over to “Viva La Revolution”, a new exhibit extolling graffiti’s artistic merits at The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art.  Before you draw conclusions about how these actions were easy and should not qualify as life-changing, hear me out. 

 

First, the hat:  with a brim just shy of four inches, the Dario Panama hat  from Jaxon is not inconspicuous.  Embracing it as daily wear this spring/summer had intimidated me.  I felt very self conscious wearing it.   (I was able to don it on vacation where “stretching” from one’s safe zone is easier).  Fully accepting this big hat as this summer’s “new me” was a leap. 

Next, the art gallery visit: Unfortunately it has come to this, but spontaneously escaping from the tasks and responsibilities of my daily routine is not easy.  It’s tantamount to playing hooky.  It’s a bit embarrassing to write this; how can it be that I have become such a slave to work? 

So, there it is.  Putting on a new hat and, outside of my schedule, heading over to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego did provide me the slightly altered view of my world that I was seeking.  I can still hear the skeptics; “This hardly qualifies as an activity having much consequence; too simple.”  In fact, it was rather easy to do.  . . . . and that’s the point.

Fred Belinsky
www.VillageHatShop.com

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