HISTORY (Lens-Artist #37) Mixing Old and New & Sean McConnell’s Secondhand Smoke song)

The theme for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge is HISTORY.

For my take I am looking at how we mix the OLD WITH THE NEW.

I grabbed this photo of an old house in downtown Richmond, VA.

I wondered about the HISTORY. 

I wonder who repaired the mortar – in the places where it is extra white. I wonder when the wires were added in –  when the awnings went up – who added the big porch steps – and what other steps were there? I wonder if the current owners find the doorway to be slim? Was the upstairs separate door always there? Did it take a few break-ins to finally put up the window security grills? Do they still have Direct TV or is this just another standing abandoned dish? I wonder if they rent or own and do they have mustiness and mold – because my oh my, that house sure is old…

Isn’t it great how we humans keep adding to history?

We mix the old with new –

As we do what we do….

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The reason we were downtown was for a concert, to enjoy Sean McConnell’s music.

His music was SO good and had a vibe of old with new.

Sean has great variety and one of his songs has a Smashing Pumpkins vibe. Then there were times with a James Taylor feel, a Bruce Springsteen “I’m on fire” harmony – but then McConnell has an original, fresh sound that is all his own. We now have him on Spotify and I invite you to check out his latest album.

Secondhand Smoke by Sean McConnell:

I shared the Secondhand Smoke song because the lyrics tell a story of McConnell’s history:

“Well I am right back riding shotgun, in a gold sedan  

1980 somethin’

Me and my old man….

The crinkle of the cellophane

crackle of tabacco flame

the stories that he told me as he held it in his hand

mmmmmm,

oooooooo”

I took this picture for the “pull up a seat” challenge. We were early and so they were still setting up. The burger smelled so good when I walked by. It must have just been delivered…. (definitely not old to smell like that)

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Concert goers (Left to Right – K, M, moi, and Hubs)

Author Update – here is a slideshow with some pics from the concert (will make a video later this spring):

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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In closing, I want to leave you with something else that mixes the OLD WITH THE NEW: facial hypothesis feedback theory. 

 Laird (1974) built on the old (early 1900’s) idea about how “the expression of an emotion intensifies it, whereas the repression of the emotion softens it.”  The facial hypothesis theory is used to argue that “facial movement influences emotional experience.”

Laird demonstrated that the face we make can and does impact our mood and body functions.

Emotional and facial efference, first presented in 1906, was used to argue that facial muscles act as ligatures on facial blood vessels and regulate cerebral blood flow, which, in turn, influences subjective feeling (more here).

I invite you to read about it because sometimes forcing a smile, singing a song, or just letting softness flood the face might have huge positive consequences for the immune system and overall body health. 

The above photo is from one of Laird’s experiments. People with the pencil in their teeth have the “smile” and it is supposed to make us feel more enjoyment. On a road trip last year, I was a  little mad about something. It was late and I was piecing together something someone said and it was one of those times (annoying) when you just need to give something time to percolate and not overthink it. I wanted to see if the “facial hypothesis feedback” could help me change my mood.  I grabbed a plastic spoon and lightly clenched it between my teeth (which is the smile position). It took 15 minutes, but it worked. I felt lighter, my smile stayed, and I enjoyed the drive a lot more. I am getting older but I do try to stay open to learning things anew…. 🙂

 

Would you care to join in with the lens-artist challenge?

Go HERE to join #Lens-Artists and go here for general info

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