Ever considered a staycation in your own city? or if you don’t live in the city, maybe your nearest town or village? Learning to appreciate the simplest of things is the fastest way to acquiring a happier more fulfilled life. Appreciating the very moment you are living in and that which surrounds you will help make everyday special. Life is precious, be alive and know it.
When you’ve lived in the same place for a while it’s easy to forget all the great things that surround you. Travelling helps you to appreciate the little things you love about your home town or city. A few friends I know that have moved from England to various places around the globe often tell me of the things they miss, which can be the smallest things like HP Sauce, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate or the BBC News.
There’s a common saying that ‘the grass is always greener’ today I’d like to suggest that it’s mostly greener wherever you water it. Taking a minute to appreciate wherever you are in the world right now, to reflect on what it is you love about that particular place, discover something new, walk outside and look at your home town through the eyes of a tourist. Appreciate the little things.
This Monday I woke up in Manchester, birth place of famous musical acts The Stone Roses, Morrissey, Oasis, artist L.S Lowery and home to world class football team Manchester United, the city where I studied and lived a few years ago, a city I often visit, the city where my family live. I sat out on the balcony with a coffee and contemplated what I love about Manchester, listing the things I always thought I’d do but have never gotten round to and what I feel is missing from the city and how I could change the things I felt were missing.
After making my list I walked out for breakfast noticing buildings and things I’d never noticed before. Bringing your attention to the present opens your eyes to new discoveries. Becoming a tourist in your hometown will open up your eyes to new experiences, discoveries and offer up a whole host of unknown excitement just waiting for you to enjoy. Here is my list, what would your list look like?
1. List five things you’ve never done in your local area, things you’ve heard about but been putting off doing. Mine went a little like this…Visit Manchester Gallery of Costume, Do the underground walking tour, take a boat trip on the canal, visit Bury Market, visi the Royal Armouries.
2. List five things you love about your local area. Easy, the canals, the local industrial, musical and creative heritage, the hilarious, welcoming and warm people, the relaxed pace of life, the accessibility to most places on foot or bicycle without having to plan long train journeys to get around, the vibrant music scene, going for Fish & Chips with my Dad, eating sticky toffee pudding at The Wharf, cycling around the park listening to my favourite music, the People’s History Museum (see me below looking like a regular barmaid behind the temperance bar!), walking along the River Irwell, I could go on for a while with this one!
3. List five things you believe are missing from your local area, now work out how you could change one of these things.
My gripes went something like this: A world class contemporary art gallery, a regular night celebrating vintage music, sunshine, Harrods, that’s all I could think of. I resided to the fact that I could host a vintage night to celebrate 20’s, 30’s through to 50’s music, though perhaps this night already exists and I just don’t know it yet!
Make your list today. See your home town through the eyes of a tourist. I’m excited about what i’m going to discover. Be proud of where you come from, appreciate where you are today.
‘Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.’ -Jonathan Swift
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