I like what my mind does when I’m in new places

Mar 29

Written By Iris Weges

maybe this is why I love travel so much

in that mind space, all my senses are open

it means being curious and reflective

and it never assumes it already knows

and maybe that’s the same mind that thinks in stories

the zone I am in when I write and create and daydream

a mind filled with curiosity and transparency

no preconceptions – just love

It takes months, years, maybe decades

to get familiar to the point of distinguishing things like a local would

where I’m local, judgy thoughts creep in

my mind thinks it knows [everything].

an undesirable side-effect of being home

… maybe even the default

here, I can distinguish almost all the accents

and involuntary listen in to each conversation

in my mother tongue

my mind thinks it knows

[who is a city kid; who votes what; who is artsy; and who is the corporate type…]

And I don’t like it.

it’s been hard to create the writer’s zone for myself here

so I’m going back to nurturing my travel state of mind

practicing “open-mindedness” like it is a verb

remembering to do this here, too

in this most familiar of places.

—

Iris Weges

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