Seattle Home Inspector's Blog

     I am sure we can all remember looking at clouds, pretending to see shapes of things in the clouds that were not really there----either chemically induced or not.  From our earliest times, humans have tried to find patterns in what they see.  I mean, does anyone really think that there is actually a “Big Dipper” a real “Bear” or a live “Virgin” up in the stars?  (Leave a goat herder alone in the wilderness for a few months at a time and no telling what they will come up with.)  

     And that is exactly what happened, because, once upon a time, some lonely goat herder smoked some funny-stuff and was able to “connect the dots” and did find “patterns" in the stars.  Then all he had to do was convince all his friends that they could see them too----which worked to distract them from wondering what he was really doing with the goats.

     Does anyone actually think that Elvis would grace the swirls of a pancake, the shape of a birthmark, or the mark on a calves’ forehead with his likeness?

     The human eye loves to find patterns in the world it sees, and the joy of finding those patterns is expressed in art, whether it is painting, photography----or other art forms.  Sometimes we “ritualize” the patterns in brush strokes to create patterns within the patterns.  Other times the patterns need no embellishment and “blow us away” all on their own.

     I have, for a very long time, had my own personal crusade against pretending to "see things" in the patterns I see----not wanting to risk diluting or limiting my experience of the patterns.  It can be very easy to end up never seeing them for what they “actually” are. 

     On a societal scale, when we accept the visual interpretations thrust upon us, it homogenizes our collective experience and makes us more “controllable” by whoever feels they need to control us----whether it is a government or a religion.  We have learned to not trust our senses----we can no longer simply enjoy what we see without judgment, analysis, prejudice or fear. 

     From a survival standpoint, there was a time when it was very important for us to be able to pick out the tiger in the camouflage of the jungle in order to not become dinner.  We now have more freedom than our ancestors in that respect----or at least we can entertain the “idea” of having more freedom.

     Pretending there is a tiger in the woods when there is none may result in our not allowing ourselves to enter the woods at all.

    It is no wonder we are not out of the woods yet. 

     It is the ultimate freedom to enjoy things the way they are----as opposed to the way we wish them to be, want them to be, need them to be-----or even imagine them to be.  The human eye (and the brain it interacts with) has an incredible ability to find and enjoy patterns in all things----whether it is the stars in the sky, frost on a window pane, sands at the beach or numbers on a spread-sheet.  When we allow ourselves to see the patterns around us, endorphins are released and the world becomes a beautiful place.    

     The key is “trust.”

     The language of patterns is “built-in”----there is nothing to download, tweet, upgrade, repair or re-boot.

     Will someone pass the Maple Syrup please? 

Charles Buell