What creates the sense of a place? What creates the nostalgia of a physical location? I believe it could be a few aspects. The way the sun shines, the open sky, or our view crowded by buildings. It could be the history of the streets, soil, the generations that occupy the hills. What makes Portland Maine so different than Portland Oregon? Is it what we assign to these places as the energy or vibe, running with the concepts we collectively assign as culture? A tech city, a hiking town, a place of danger and drugs, a village of retreat in a far away land.
There's a possibility we all carry energy to places, collectively build it up, and create a feed back loop; looking and creating what we believe is waiting for us. This can push into a frame of time as well. A longing for a time when we haven't lived through, past or future. We tend to want to go back and see the same places we have loved. There are times we return finding we are a stranger, deeply feeling the distance of time and evolution within and without. Its what we strive for, that bitter sweet feeling of growth that can only be noticed by comparison - of all kinds.
We may crave the dry heat and climate of the desert, or the chilly damp weather of Scandinavia. Where ever we find ourselves, we are there, finding we are still looking through the same eyes; the same eyes that watch the dishes being washed, watching the bumper in front ofyou in traffic. Possibly this is a the aspect of time and place, distance and amount of time spent in these places. Could we feel shifted and be able to fully absorb a new place in a few moments? Maybe it depends on our receptivity, what we value, and what we assign as the culture, energy of a new location.
This stream could go in many directions, exploring time, distance, the psyche. These concepts will have to wait and to find their place.
Much Love,
Gabrielle