The Veil of Familiarity
When we look at something everyday, it can lose it’s uniqueness due to the veil of familiarity. What to do when everyday life creates a fog that keeps us from seeing beauty and truth.
When I travel to a new place, I love to observe the houses and neighborhoods. I look at the details of the homes to see what is unique to that area.
One of my favorite places to visit is north central Pennsylvania. As I would drive through the area, a combination of brick and wood created a scene that I still correlate to that area.
I looked at those areas with a wonder because they were new to me. They existed outside my “normal” and familiar life. I looked upon those roads, homes, and existence with interest because they represented a different place from my home in Minnesota.
I didn’t have that same wonder for my neighborhood. It sat under a veil which kept me from applying my interest. Everyday life obscured my focus.
The word veil can be a noun or a verb. The verb form is defined as “to cover, provide, obscure, or conceal”. Whether we know it or not, we engage in the action of concealing the uniqueness of our everyday. We create a fog that shrouds the beauty of our surroundings. This isn’t done on purpose but as a result of repeated exposures. Our cars have lost the luster of newness from when they first became ours. Our neighborhoods aren’t filled with possibilities because they are known. This is a dangerous place of comfort.
Comfort can be a good thing. We can process actions without much thought. We can find rest in comfort. The problem comes when our comfort leads us to keep from looking at our lives with interest and vigor. When we start taking things for granted or thinking the things around us don’t have interest.
Fighting the Veil
How do we attack the familiar? How do we keep our sense of awe?
Simply put, focused intentional attention. Paying attention to the things around us creates a curiosity that lifts the fog. Asking ourselves- “How would this drive look to someone new to the area?” or “What would someone from another country think of my neighborhood?” is a good starting point. Being aware of the veil makes us want to lift it. To see more clearly the things in our lives.
Our attention has to be focused. Don’t try to apply this to everything all at once, choose a small piece of your life and give it your full attention. Look for something in your life that may have become routine. Focus on that for a bit.
Lastly, intentionality plays a part in fighting the veil. You need to want to do find the beauty surrounding you. If you are ok with dull and middling, then you probably won’t have an easy time lifting your veil. But with an intentional effort, you will start to see more than the familiar.
Don’t let the familiar obscure the beauty and truth around you.