Doors...

Doors. The dictionary definition is a large flat object that you can open when you want to enter or leave a building, room or vehicle. For me, however, they mean so much more...

It’s an obsession and I’ve had it for years. Red doors, blue doors, big doors, small doors, old doors and I could go on forever!  Every time I wonder around old cities and foreign places they just seem to attract me. Some I approach and inspect more closely only to be mesmerised by the symmetry and woodwork and then suddenly there is this moment and there’s nothing I can do to stop myself: I need to touch it, quickly.  Not all of them though, not all feel that welcoming. Sometimes it’s the paint or the style that stops me but once I’m convinced that it’s one for the collection I have to take some distance, slowly, to admire the beauty of it once more and marvel about what stories about daily life in this street or this house it could tell me.. if only it could talk!

But being inanimate doesn’t mean it can’t communicate. The intensity of colour, the cracks and layers or dust do all tell their own story if only you look carefully. With a quick shot I try to eternalise that feeling and the experience, before moving on quickly with a beaming smile on my face. Content. And sometimes quickly, if owners or feisty neighbours come out and expose me to their colourful language wondering what on earth this crazy lady was staring at their house for!  

A lot of my doors apparently have been worth this embarrassment of shuffling around and finding that perfect angle, as I’m now seem to have collected hundreds of pictures of ….yes, simply doors. Looking through them makes me happy, it rekindles these beautiful encounters and the beauty of life; simply existing in the present.

Doors inspire me. Why? Well, I’ve wondered for a long time what this obsession with doors is really about. And believe me, so have my travelling companions! Maybe a door signifies something bigger to me than just a large flat object that you can open.The expression a door to might be closer to my what they really mean to me. Doors have something mysterious about them… you never know what’s on the other side and if you do not try to open it, you will never know.  A motto in my life has always been doors are there to be open; if opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door! And equally for the expression to open doors for something/ someone; my life is about enabling others and giving someone an opportunity to do something, , to create a possibility that something can happen. We ourselves are the one and only responsible to create opportunities but you do have to want to see that door and not all of them are easily to see… I mean just think of a boring grey or brown door... how easy would it be to walk past those and not even pay attention to them?  Making things possible and seeing possibilities that’s how I like to I see life and that’s the way I want to live it.

However, let’s talk about some less colourful doors; some doors indeed make it impossible to do something. I mean, you can close the door on something or on someone, or someone can close the door on you. Stay calm and just keep in mind that often when one door closes, another one opens! Such a truth, and something I often have to remind myself of if something is not going the way I had hoped. In life I believe you always get what you need but not always what you want.. that’s life! But remember even if what you get does not feel perfect, take it step by step and try to get.. your foot in the door! Never give up… eventually you will manage to open that door when it’s meant to open and find that what you need is waiting there for you!

Anyway I think it’s time for me to show you the door! So next time you go out of doors, take a closer look at your door and think what does it tell you and ...would it be worth my shot?

Have a lovely day and remember… life is what you make it!