A Change of Scene

Getting away from the routine is nice, but it's also necessary for creativity. Our travels around the internet go a long way toward serving the need for novelty. Yet nothing can replace the tangible universe for feeding a life of design.

Originality depends on unfamiliar territory. You need foreign doorways to keep your creative vision sharp. Strolling shops, museums, or merely traveling to the next town will nourish your art.

I'm a real homebody and begrudge leaving my nest. But only the transition is hard. Once away, I suck in everything that crosses my path and file it away, whether I'm immediately aware of it or not.

The family home I visited over the weekend worked on me this way. Far from home, the stagnant parts of my brain percolated. I visited new shops, strolled new neighborhoods, gazed on fresh beauty. Here are a few bits that lay strewn on my path in Santa Barbara.