Kaleidoscopes in Unexpected Places

Kaleidoscope: derived from Ancient Greek; kalos (meaning beauty, beautiful) + eidos (meaning form, shape) + skopeo (meaning to observe, consider, examine)
 



Kaleidoscopes are all about perceiving the world differently; observing beautiful forms in everyday objects or places. I recently learned that they can also be found in the most unexpected places. 

The photo to the right, is one of several in an exhibit entitled, Kaleidoscope by Artists for Humanity; a public installation in Terminal C at Logan International Airport in Boston.  As I waited in the terminal to bid my youngest daughter, Jen, goodbye as she returned to college after winter break; to my left were the TSA screening checkpoints with a long queue of tired and harried-looking passengers and to my right were these stunning kaleidoscopic images of nature and beauty. How many of the people in line turned their heads and saw these photos of serenity amidst the chaos and aggravation of a full body scan? I don't know, but my guess is not many. 

My resolution this year is to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary by taking some time to turn my head and look at the world through the lens of a kaleidoscope...the same world just perceived differently.