We just got back from a few days of vacation in Colorado. It was AMAZING. The mountains were like nothing I’ve ever experienced and the elevation literally took my breath away. We did a little hiking in the park, checked out artist shops in some small local towns, ate in the city, and toured mountains and mines.
I wanted to take it all in and take it all home.
At some point, I think while I was checking out the merch table at a concert, a thought popped into my head like a mantra:
“More Museums. Less Malls.”
I wanted to buy something at the merch table, not because I needed anything. But because I wanted to take the feeling of the place home with me. I wanted to own a little piece of it.
When I visit a mall, the goal is acquisition.
I desire, assess, compare, and maybe even envy. I try to buy my way into what I think I need to become.
I want to own the beauty, not just experience it.
When I visit a museum, I show up differently.
I slow down. I look closely. I observe, appreciate, and reflect.
I take in the colors, the light, the texture.
I recognize the items are representations, not just stuff.
I let what I see challenge and change me, but I don’t expect to physically bring it home.
That’s what I decided I want from our travels: to let the places shape and inspire me, without needing to possess them. More museum. Less mall.
I still came back with a few purchased treasures: a couple small pins and stickers – our usual mementos from the places we visit, a sweatshirt that will replace one I don’t like the feel of, and a puzzle of the National Park we visited, continuing a tradition of reliving memories while putting the puzzle together, then passing it on to other puzzle-loving family.
Oh, and I ended up with a concert tee anyway, as the girls next to me spent more time drinking than listening to the concert and when they left partway through, they left their concert tee behind in the piles of booze cans they had strewn about, including the can they had accidentally dumped all over my shoes and bag, so I figured the t-shirt (in my size) was an apology gift.
I still love bringing small mementos home and letting them spark my memories when I see them.
But I’m learning to let presence be the point.
To interact with the world maybe more like a museum.
Not something to own, but something to be changed and inspired by.
More museums. Less malls.
Uncovering Real 