I read something interesting this past week, but I can't find it, so I'll paraphrase it. The gist of it was basically about filling your life with things (people, experiences, knowledge...blabla etc) that remind you about the qualities that you like/admire about yourself. On the surface it seems like an incredibly egocentric endeavor. It's highly likely that my misgivings stem from my own personal conditioning, in that I was brought up to believe/view selflessness as a virtue. But the more I've thought about it, the more it make sense and actually coincides with a piece of advice that I've given to others time and again. Namely, that you should probably make sure that your own head is on straight, before you traipsing off to help others get their shit together. That's also a really watered-down version, mind you. Still, it's been stuck in my head for the last two months and I find it applicable to my current situation. I'm not looking for a complete "re-invention" of myself or a Raven 2.0. And I don't hate myself. But I've seen better days -- I'm not just referring to breakup crap -- and I've kind of forgotten about that stuff. That all sounds incredibly vague. And it is. It's the first baby steps out of this fog, so just bear with me.
So, I've been making a little lists. Things that I want to do, see, experience, learn about...and all that good shit. I do recognize that I could have been doing this shit all along. Whatever, sometimes people need a catalyst to get their asses into gear.
Today, I went to the 25 years of Pixar exhibit at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum of Arts and Crafts). It's a decent exhibit and, if the line of people waiting to enter is any indication, it's probably going to be a popular one. I've lived in Hamburg for almost 7 years and, if you include all of my stays in the city in the past decade, I've been to quite a few museums. I'd never been to this one. And today I discovered that it's right up my alley. I'll be making another visit soon, because I just didn't have the time to see everything that I wanted to see.
It seems so small, but the whole experience was a concrete/in my face (and much appreciated) reminder of all the things I haven't seen or done in Hamburg as yet (despite having lived here for a minute or two or seven).
That was the main, high-level observation for today. I also emerged from the experience with a few superficial observations that have nothing to do with my personal shit.
1.) The Pixar exhibit will make you feel super old. I didn't even realize Pixar had been around for 25 years (so sue me). Also, my brain thinks that Toy Story came out like five years ago and not almost 20(!). And that all the other Pixar films came out last week.
2.) I want to decorate my apartment entirely with minimalist concept art from The Incredibles and with furniture grown from chair farms (pictured above from a completely different exhibit on sustainability).
3.) There were a LOT of children at the exhibit. Like all ages. Perhaps the crowd was so large, because the exhibit is still new. However, I wonder if, say, a three-year-old (five-year-old, for that matter) wouldn't be totally freaked out by seeing a scary, nightmarish early version of their favorite character. Also, I question how much they would appreciate all the intricate details that go into the animation process. Maybe some are aspiring animators and I don't want to discourage that. Still, there was a lot of tech-speak that kids will just not understand. This is probably just my ageism showing and how I just wish there were less kids running around.
4.) So many cool-ass things at this museum!
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