Beauty in Detail | Mike's words

Have you ever looked at something? Not just glanced at it, but really, really, looked at something? Try it right now. Look at the tip of a single finger. Go on. I’ll still be here when you’re done.

I hope you took some time to do so. I hope you noticed the imperfect, and the irregular. Perhaps you found a scar you never knew about, or the tiniest speck of dirt that you must have picked up in the ten minutes since you last washed your hands. Or maybe you just took the time to marvel at the uniqueness of your fingerprint. Were there swirls or straight lines? Is it nearly symmetrical or is it rather picassian?

Everything has detail if only you choose to look for it. The paint on your walls. The arrangement of hairs on your head. The cheese on your pizza. There is no such thing as ‘smooth’ in the real world, nor do the man-made concepts of ‘uniform’, ‘equal’, ‘flat’, or ‘consistent’ instil any sanity in the madness of the universe. Try to comprehend the sheer unadulterated chaos that surrounds you all the time. Every single time you rip a piece of paper, you create a unique, never-before-seen pattern of bumps and ridges. I think there’s something beautiful in that.

The next time you walk down the street, try to look for things you’ve never seen before. Within seconds you’ll find a road marking you never noticed is wearing away, or a small grey box on the side of a building, the function of which you’ll never know.

The next time you’re bored and reaching for your phone, try instead to see something new in the world.