Looking Up

Mary Augusta Ward (1851 to 1920) [1] was a novelist who founded an organisation for working and teaching amongst the poor. Today one of her tangible legacies is the Mary Ward Centre in London, a fine example of the arts and crafts style of building. This building has become a keystone for our trips to London, signifying for us as we walk south the beginning of Bloomsbury and the opening up of an incredible range of architectural styles of buildings and other constructions. Our most recent visit in January was a particular pleasure. Looking up, noticing the rich variety and scale of buildings was a delight in itself, reminding me of the benefits of travel.

We talk about getting away or having a change of scene but rarely think more deeply of what we mean. Most of us are creatures of habit, of routine, finding a reassurance in an ever-changing world with repetitiveness and structure that routine gives us. During lockdown periods the local environment in which we live became part of our routine, such as in our daily walks (see previous blog). What I had failed to see is that, after almost 20 years of living in Edinburgh, the very buildings of Auld Reekie had also sank somehow in my mind into the category of routine. Edinburgh’s long and turbulent history, it’s ancient and modern buildings, its winds, cobbles and yards had all somehow become overly familiar, no longer perking my curiosity. Perhaps it is the plague of tourists that clutter our streets and our enjoyment, perhaps it was another plague that we call a pandemic, whatever the cause the effect was clear.

So what does that change of scene look like? Above I have described a tiny fraction of a recent experience of exploring and re-engaging with London. I have ignored the rococo, the Jacobean and Elizabethan both old and new and the art deco. As an aside let’s take a brief diversion here. One evening after a meal out we were wandering slowly back to the hotel when C looked down a side street and asked “what’s that white building?” So we change course and went to investigate. A large three-story Art Deco building sat in the middle of the street – later investigations revealing a 1930s Daimler garage now converted to offices. But for me the significance of this building was greater than its structure. Not only is it a fine example of the Art Deco style in a commercial building, not only is this scale noteworthy. But that it is noteworthy and yet so easily overlooked – it was a delight and a reginiting of my curiosity. A curiosity restarted after a dormant winter in auld reekie.

I know you’re probably thinking – what has this blog got to do with physical health? Well, apart from the obvious walking involved, it is a reminder that for our mind’s health we need on occasion to do new things, whether it is learning a new hobby or travelling to somewhere different or reading a new book. There are well-documented health benefits in embracing and discovering new things within ourselves and outside, around us.

So, in a roundabout way, a change of scene for me is an opportunity for a fresh look at the world around me. It doesn’t have to be a richly varied city, it can be an unfamiliar coastal landscape or a new town such as Kirkcudbright that I have blogged about previously. All I ask of you, is to give yourself that opportunity to escape routine, embrace a fresh view and look up. You never know what you might see

[1] she also believed in ‘equalisation’ in society and she established ‘settlement movements’. She was head of the national anti-suffragette movement. <Wikipedia