A kaleidoscope is made from a combination of a barrel, a series of mirrors and a tumble of small objects. Often the objects are relatively mundane; buttons perhaps or fragments of coloured glass. But when viewed through the lens of the kaleidoscope, reflected and fragmented and reconstituted, the mundane becomes beautiful. Seen only ever in part, each element that is tossed and turned in the barrel of the instrument is elevated as part of a complex geometric pattern, full of contrast, complexity and meaning. What might seem straightforward when viewed alone, becomes, when paired with fragments of its neighbours, something of infinite fascination.

No two patterns produced by a kaleidoscope are ever the same. Like snowflakes, the geometries formed are unique to each moment and each turn of the barrel. Each view through the lens is a matter of chance.

Experience from a phenomenological point of view is a little like a kaleidoscope. Each moment is a jumble of sensory information; fragments of sound, smell, touch, colour, warmth which in turn connect us to a vast sea of memory and meaning. We are always sensing, always embedded in that ocean of stimulation. From a phenomenological perspective it is not possible to truly disconnect. We cannot exist purely as cerebral, objective beings, separated from the world; we are enmeshed within it.

For me, this way of approaching experience means that all sensory encounter holds the possibility of discovery that reflects both outwards and inwards. The world around me is a memory aid, an emotional barometer, a catalyst and a teacher. I am not only in relationship with the people in my life but in relationship to the trees, birds, hills and rivers I encounter too and like all relationships these connections are stronger when acknowledged, respected, listened to and shown thanks.

Kal-eido-scope: derived from the Ancient Greek kalos for beauty, eidos meaning "that which is seen” and skopeō: to look to. To see beauty.

Kaleidoscope Minds

They say

Be objective

Be reasonable

Be rational

And I imagine

the mind

of their mind’s eye

floating silent

A weightless marble

The still centre

of a gyroscope

watching the world spin

But I know

that all our minds

are kaleidoscopic

Tumbling together

the sacred and arcane

Each moment

a prism

a freefall

a conversation

An alchemy

A mirror each

for Family,

Culture

Past

Reflecting fractal beauty

that is more

than the sum

of our parts

I stand

in a kaleidoscope moment

under night sky

Where firefly glow

lights luminous memory

Where celestial dyes

bleed through

the wet parchment of time

Where the animal thrill

of night air

evokes bravery

And the bravery

evokes all the times

I have not

been brave

And I study

my mind’s image

with my mind’s eye

Senses combing

Memory’s gilded index

Emotions stirred

by the spoon of encounter

Faultlines of feeling

running the seams of years

And I think of that objective mind

in its reasonable cage

The world encountered

through a one way mirror

Emotions

cloistered

The index of memory

yearning to be touched

I picture

the illusion;

this feigned separation

Feelings like vapour

escaping their hutch

Past bumping the present

like dodgem cars

The shock of collision

The rebound

And I think

Isn’t it better

to be kaleidoscopic?

Kaleidoscope

which means

to see beauty

To be tumbled

in freefall

but more

than the sum of our parts

The Liminal Compass: Kaleidoscope Minds