Make A Splash

I met up with Grav and John to go to a Ride gig recently and it was a religious experience. It was in Hackney Church and, honestly, if church is always this good these days then I promise to go every week. 

Ride played a blindingly great classic set of songs. They were recreating their performance from the 1992 Reading Festival, and it was just magical to go back in time and relive that era.

Alone Across The Water

While in the pub for pre gig drinks Grav showed me a recreation of his own he’d been working on. You’ll probably recognise the image above. It’s in homage to David Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures).

The original piece of work sold in 2018 for an incredible $80 million dollars. Not sure if Grav’s recreation would go for quite as high a figure but I like it very much.

Grav has appeared in the odd top tip over the years. I’ve written about his photography prowess before now in this blog post. The theme back then was continuous improvement and I explained that even though he’s a great photographer he still focuses on getting better all the time. Consciously choosing to work hard, to get better at at all the different elements of photography.

We didn’t have chance to chat about it in detail but to assemble all the elements required to recreate Hockney’s image must have taken a lot of effort and needed plenty of skill. 

You or I can’t just knock something up like that. Being able to is the result of years of accumulative learning and practice. It takes dedication to get to that level.

This Twilight Garden

Anyway, his recreation reminded me of a Hockney interview I read a while ago and snipped away for future use. (I snip things that are of interest, pop them into my icebox on Trello and then, if I remember, I’ll come back to them later. If at that stage I can remember what the point of me saving it was then there’s a good chance I’ll write about it.)

Well I remembered what this cutting was about. In that interview Hockney was 82 years old, living in Normandy and painting daily. The works he was focusing on would form an exhibition called The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020. 

In the interview Hockney talked about the magic of gardens and how much beauty they have. 

“In the Bible and other ancient texts, every important place is a garden. Where would you rather live? Where would you want to be? Even in Los Angeles, I am always drawing my garden.” 

He also mentioned that most people don’t notice this beauty. He contended that they would walk straight through the Garden of Eden without noticing where it. They’d be too focused on avoiding tripping over the tree roots to appreciate where they were. 

The world is full of beauty, he insisted, but you need to look closely and carefully to truly see it.

Chalky Perfection and Truth

I really like this idea. That beauty is so often right in front of us but just out of sight. And it’s invisible to us because we’re focused on other stuff.

How often do we miss the beauty around us because we’re too preoccupied with the little obstacles in our path?

There’s an old saying, “Stop and smell the roses,” which feels almost too obvious to mention, but how many of us actually do it? 

Whether it’s literally taking in the beauty of a garden or simply appreciating the small moments in our everyday lives, there’s something deeply enriching about slowing down and noticing what’s right in front of us.

We often think of beauty as something grand or far away - a tropical beach, a sunset over the mountains - but the truth is, there’s beauty in the mundane. 

A cup of coffee on a quiet morning, the laughter of a child, or even the sound of rain tapping against the window. These moments are everywhere, but we rarely stop to appreciate them.

Speed Demon

One reason we struggle to notice the beauty around us is because we live in a world that rewards speed. Faster decisions, quicker results, and constantly moving on to the next big thing.  

It feels like we’re being productive, but it often means we miss the little wonders that could make our days richer.

I’ve been going through loads of old photos recently and going back to pre 2010 reminded me of when life seemed a little less frantic. Mainly because there were no mobile phones. Or at least ones that didn’t rule our world.

Things were slower. Remember waiting for the dial-up internet to connect? Or spending half an hour trying to set the video recorder to catch Match Of The Day? It wasn’t all smooth, and I’m not saying I’d want to go back to that, but in those slower moments we found time to talk, laugh, or just pause for a while. 

Now, if the mate I’m with in the pub leaves the table to pop to the Gents for three minutes I automatically reach for my phone. I bet you do too in similar circumstances. Now, with everything at our fingertips, we’ve forgotten how to wait and just be.

And that’s what can stop us from noticing the beauty all around us.

Deserves A Quiet Night

The key to seeing beauty is finding stillness in our lives. It’s about slowing down just enough to take in what’s right in front of us. 

Imagine walking through a forest, head up, not down at your feet, and noticing the way the sunlight filters through the trees, the sound of the leaves rustling, and the smell of fresh earth. These aren’t big, Instagram-worthy moments, but they’re deeply beautiful if you give them a chance to register.

In the same way, our daily lives are filled with these tiny, often overlooked moments of beauty. You just need to give yourself permission to notice them.

Taking A Break

This week’s Top Tip is to take a break, slow down, look up and notice more. 

So, how can we start appreciating the beauty that’s all around us? It doesn’t take a grand gesture, just a few small adjustments to how we move through our days.

Here are three simple ways to help you slow down and take in the world:

1 - Build a pause into your routine. Set aside five minutes in your day to just be. It could be with a cup of tea or while standing outside, but make sure it’s a time where you’re not rushing. Simply observe what’s around you.

2 - Practice mindful moments. When you’re walking, commuting, or even washing the dishes, try to focus on the sounds, smells, and sights around you. This helps to ground you in the present and reveals the beauty in those seemingly ordinary moments.

3 - Digital detox. We’re all guilty of living through our phones. Try a mini digital detox - turn off your notifications for an hour and notice how much more you see when you’re not distracted by screens.

In a world that’s constantly pushing us to do more, be more, and rush forward, slowing down to see the beauty around us can feel like a luxury. 

But it’s not. It’s essential to our wellbeing. 

By pausing, breathing, and paying attention, we can reconnect with the beauty that’s been right under our noses all along.