Every Object has a Story, Part Two

Last week, I set myself a challenge to write about two objects in my home. This has come from me thinking about inspiration and ideas. I am interested in how an object can tell a story and how it can convey emotion.

I have chosen this picture. How I got it is not that interesting. I was in Ikea and as always was drawn to the sale signs. Poking out of a box was this picture. I am not a fan of mass produced decoration, but I instantly liked it. It is by Nadia Taylor and called, Lido.

It hangs right in front of my bed. It is the first and last thing I see each day. Each time I look at it, I think or feel something different. The image of the girl under water takes me right back to being a child and gliding under water, feeling free. For a few moments I am in another world. The sounds of the world above are distorted and then I return to the surface, gasping for breath. The memory makes me feel happy.

Other times when I look at the picture it makes me think about how sometimes in life, I glide through my days, seamlessly. Luckily, there are many day like this. The repetition of the images is quite soothing, but there is also something a bit more sinister hiding between the lines. I also see a subtext and this is when she starts to come alive.

There are times when I look at this picture, I see her treading water, spluttering, trying to get back to normal and trying to get back to seamless. Perhaps from a disappointment or something that didn’t go well at work. Then, unfortunately, on black days I see her clinging to driftwood, exhausted, floating until she can swim again. For me, this is overcoming loss of loved ones.

Then the picture returns to what it once was. I see her again, swimming seamlessly. The picture reminds me to feel grateful for the times when I  glide though my day. It reminds me to keep swimming and to be happy.

I wish you a seamless day!