Post 2/ Mental Travel to “Re-Find” Your Why
Avenue of Poplars in Autumn by Van Gogh
1884, Van Gogh Museum. Pictured above is a piece of artwork that helped me visualize my grief, refine (or “Re-Find) “my why”, and gain inertia for initiating my 16 Week Space Refresh Trek.
“We imagine ourselves as a different version of ourselves when we travel, without our current struggles. But the truth is, wherever you go, there you are.”
Identifying “Your Why”, Part II: Finding Inspiration Outside Your Space.
In my opening blog, I lightly mentioned the Psyche Butterfly concept of “mental travel,” the idea of using a simplified physical space to focus on meaningful inner work and community connections. While I enjoy physical travel (I am writing this from a café in Amsterdam), Psyche Butterfly emphasizes the internal journey. Physical travel often requires resources, like time and money, making it inaccessible for many. In this second gilded age of global capitalism, it is clear how unfairly distributed the ability to physically travel is. My goal is not to give advice on physical travel but to explore how we can all engage in mental travel, regardless of circumstance. By creating a conscious and simplified physical space, mental travel is something we can all practice daily, if we create the right physical space for it.
Here’s my hypocritical action item for you this week. I encourage you to start week 2 with a small, physical adventure to reset your perspective. Get outside your current physical space, the one you plan to simplify. Take a weekend road trip, pitch a tent in your backyard, visit a museum, or ride the bus to the library. Even a brief change in scenery, or your weekend routine, can inspire fresh motivation for the physical work ahead. For me, the idea of a simplified home, designed for mental travel, came to life during a museum visit. While it happened to be on a high-budget trip, this is not what I’m suggesting you need to do. Often, the first step toward mental travel and creating what you need right at home, begins with retrieving simple, physical experiential differences, right outside your front door.
How Leaving My Physical Space Helped Me Refine Identifying “My Why” in Week 2
During a recent trip, I stayed with a friend’s sister who introduced us to her favorite cafés, grocery store, and walking routes. In return, we picked up essentials, made dinner, and brought fresh flowers. But it was at the Van Gogh Museum that inspiration truly struck. This type of experience (finding something outside your usual environment to inspire reflection) is what I encourage you to explore. We’re gonna call this adventure our Re-Find Mission. This is your opportunity to refine “your why” by leaning into a visual (like artwork or inspiration from nature) to bring clarity to the words you wrote down in Checklist Number 1.
Here was my experience. At the museum, I stood in front of a Van Gogh painting for, what felt like, an hour. The piece, a muddy road with a woman in simple black clothes walking toward a faint light, mirrored my recent experiences that had me in a grief cycle. The world spun indifferently around her, just as the world kept bustling on after I had recently lost something really meaningful to me. The feeling that both the painting was displaying and my recent experiences resembled, was only further amplified with the tangible reality as museum-goers passed by around me, without notice. My feet were planted, my tears unstoppable. But! The woman in the painting moved forward, despite the darkness and going unnoticed by anyone, embracing it as part of her trek.
That painting gave me a visualization of “my why”, of the Psyche Butterfly why: “Create Your Conscious Space.” It helped me see that, like Van Gogh, I could evolve past this moment of darkness, too. Just as he mastered the dark techniques and grew out of it to find his own signature style, I realized I could be on the path to do the same. I had mastered the corporate world, to the extent my mind was telling me I wanted to. The darkness I was navigating was part of building my skill and experience. I was only building for my greatest ahead, my own signature color and broad strokes. In fact, I was about to embrace the bold colors and thick strokes of this blog. Which only emphasizes how happy I am to be here, alongside you, reading.
I knew I needed to write to you and create these resources. Even though it certainly wouldn’t provide a steady paycheck and who knows if it will land, I must get this out into the world. And thus, Van Gogh became an inspiring person, along with his art. Van Gogh stayed true to his vision, even when it wasn’t understood, reshaping art through his unique lens. It was this art pieces, featured above, that gave me the visualization inertia to move forward with this project. I intend to stay true to my vision with you.
Van Gogh’s work also reminded me that growth comes not from escaping, but from learning to love where you are. Van Gogh was trying to move against the current, using bold colors and thick strokes when the norm was dark, delicate work. Although he could have escaped the difficulty of creating his own by conforming to the majority of artists, he stuck it out. In a similar way, while physical travel can broaden horizons and be a quick exposure to stark differences, I realized that I believed the real challenge, and deeper joy in life, comes from finding that same sense of discovery at home. It’s harder to do yet, perhaps, more rewarding. This topic you’ll experience at Psyche Butterfly isn’t necessarily the norm, but I do believe we will discover better ways to travel, perhaps the bolder and more colorful way of traveling the mind.
How Leaving Your Physical Space and Going on a “Re-Find Mission” Will Help You
The value of stepping outside your daily environment, on your Re-Find Mission, isn’t about checking off a destination or bragging rights. It’s about the moments spent in new spaces or with people that inspire fresh perspectives. This inspiration could come from gazing at the night sky, stumbling upon a meaningful book, or visiting a local gem in your city. While my breakthrough happened at a museum abroad, I firmly believe this experience could have happened right a home. The real challenge, and deeper joy, comes from finding this same sense of discovery from physical travel, at home, with those around you. You can’t escape your problems through travel; wherever you go, there you are.
This Re-Find Mission mission means we’re not quite ready for the physical work of tidying yet. To continue prepping for the physical portion of “creating your conscious space” on the 16 Week Space Refresh Trek, your job this week is to Refine Your Why on a Re-Find Mission.
Download Checklist Number 2.
Choose Your Re-Find Location.
Bring Your Checklist & Explore.
You might be thinking, “I can’t force inspiration” or “Refining “my why” can’t be planned.” I hear you. It was a bit of serendipity that a piece of artwork struck such a deep chord with me when I needed it most. However, I had already laid the groundwork, with Checklist Number 1, by setting an intention. This effort prepared my heart and mind to be open to consciously see the inspiration, when it presented itself. Like how our beliefs influence how we perceive the world, my intention guided me to find a visual representation of the purpose I was seeking. Just like how I finally started to notice Psyche and butterflies emerging as a symbol in my life after a year of being exposed to them, in only one week of setting side time to “Re-Fine” my mission statement, I saw this second symbol in Van Gogh’s work, quite quickly. Your Re-Find Mission is about creating that same openness, giving “your why” the visual it might need to emerge.
What This Activity Helped Me Discover
I wrote down, in week 1, that my mission was rooted in “creating your conscious space”. As I began to reflect deeper on why I couldn’t stay in those job offers, after being laid off from that job that really meant the most to me, the ideas of creating space wouldn’t stop visualizing in my head. Whether it’s teaching yoga, designing physical spaces, or crafting a warm and welcoming ambiance, my next ambition came into focus. I wanted to help others simplify and transform their spaces.
It is this week’s activity, however, to visualize it in the Re-Find Mission, that gave me a visual to lean on. Finding this Van Gogh piece helped me put my mission to an image to strengthen my resolve and pursue it wholeheartedly. In fact, it wasn’t only Van Gogh’s story and this piece that gave me inertia, but also the concept of the clothesline that I kept seeing on my walks between museums. You’ll hear more about the clothesline next week. And you may find more than 1 visual that grabs you, too.
For now, go find some visuals and gain that inertia to make “your why” more fully fledged. Treat yourself to an after work jaunt to a public resource you’ve never tried out. A park with lights at night? Maybe you’ll find some inspiration in the night sky. A late night cafe? Get the cheapest tea and people watch. Seek some inspiration in this artistic experience to add some color to “your why”.
“The Preparation”
Optional Items to Purchase
Nothing this week!
Focus on the Checklist 1 & 2.
Optional Tasks To Do
Download Checklist Number 2.
Physically Travel: Take Checklist Number 2 with you on a weekend excursion or evening physical “travel” time you set aside for yourself.
Begin to Budget: The 16 Week Space Refresh does require some upfront costs including learning what kinds of tools you wnat to use — trash bags, boxes, etc.. Think about what you like when you spring clean or prepare to donate.
Additional Commentary
Full Disclosure
If you follow along, the next year will have messy parts and doubts. We will find holes and impractical things to debunk together. And who knows, maybe the values of this blog will re-shape themselves into something new. But, I hope you’ll join me, in the comments too.
One Thing I do Know
The greatest traveler I know is my father-in-law, who journeys inward more deeply than anyone I’ve met. Van Gogh embodied this too, standing firm in his vision and saying, “You’ll certainly see I have my own way of looking.” Come find your own way of looking!
