5 Things I Like About an Awe Walk Through Denver’s RiNo Neighborhood
In my experience, if you quit your job in your late thirties you will be asked if you’re going through a midlife crisis. (In my experience, sometimes you will be the one doing the asking.) I’ve responded to that question several different ways: “Maybe.” “Probably.” “Actually, I already did that at 25 because of family history, thank you though.” But the response I’ve come to over time is that I think “crisis” makes it sound unnecessarily scary to get older and learn things about yourself and think about how you relate to the world and consider changing some things.
I got backup for this response in January when Chip Conley published Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age and went on a podcast tour in support of the book, which is how I heard him on HBR, which is why I’m now reading the book.
The book’s chapter titles give you a good idea of the lessons contained therein. “I’m Making Friends with My Emotions,” “I’m Starting to Experience Time Affluence,” “I Feel as If I’m Growing Whole,” and the star of today’s blog, “I Have No More ‘Fucks’ Left to Give.”
In that chapter Conley talks about taking “awe walks” with his dog in order to go “spying on the divine.” He writes, “Awe is all about getting outside the cage of our ego and recognizing that we can be a ‘first-class noticer’ of something beyond our frustrating friend or our annoying neighbor. Before I embark upon an awe walk, I always ask the question, ‘Nature, what do you have to teach me today?’”
My mom does this, taking walks around her neighborhood, photographing flowers, and turning those photos into handmade note cards that she sends to people—awe and gratitude at the same time, very cool, and probably related. As I was reading the aforementioned chapter, I realized that I was at that very moment experiencing some time affluence, so I decided to go on an awe walk in our neighborhood which, because it is the RiNo art district, turned into an art walk.
Here are 5 things that I liked from this walk that I wanted to share with you:
1. This guy
My first destination was this mural, because I love this guy:
I think it’s because of the color palette that artist Mike Fudge uses, plus the face and mustache and expression and cigarette remind me of my dad, see (cigarette reluctantly omitted because of office rules, I’m sure):
2. Searching for Chris Haven’s Pyramid People
On the way to that mural I saw my first pyramid person, so I decided to go on a Where’s Waldo-type scavenger hunt. I’ve been a fan of Chris Haven’s work for years, from his intricate city grids spraypainted on walls to his works on canvas that fancy up the street art vibe. One thing he does is paint pyramid people on a lot of stuff, and if you keep your eyes peeled you can find them all over the place in RiNo. I kept my eyes peeled throughout the day and I found 8:
3. MacGyver Art
Ambling around in search of pyramid people, I got to see many versions of street art that were cool for so many reasons—one is that an unexpected medium can show creativity in a new way.
This is a telephone pole that was cut down (bonus mural from Keya Tama in the background):
These are made from cut-up foam interlocking pad thingys:
This is spraypainted on the ground by Boots:
And this was made from a business closing:
4. New Favorites
I noticed this new one from Kimchi Juice for the first time, and I enjoyed the interplay of flow and geometry:
I ran into this one from GREG MIKE, which I’ve spent some time with since it went up last year:
I watched the process of making a new mural at RocketSpace for a while:
And speaking of the process, I love this new work from Lauren YS aka Squid Licker that you can watch being made last year:
One bonus is that you can see it from different places if you’re on an awe walk:
5. Old Favorites
I was reminded that the parking lot next to Denver Central Market is full of great art:
For me, walking by “Larimer Boy / Girl” from Jeremy Burns and noticing the details of how it changes never gets old:
And I ended things at “Hermes” from PichiAvo, which has been a star in the neighborhood for a few years now. Kelly and I appreciate it every time we walk by because the combination of grandeur and detail provide a little echo of Greece:
How cool is all of that for spending an hour walking on a Monday?
I say go ahead, reframe that midlife crisis to a midlife opportunity, because in my experience there’s another thing that people will for sure say to you if you quit your job in your late thirties, and it’s this: “Good for you—we only get one shot at this life, right?”
Want to go on an awe walk? Want to talk about how we’re learning to love whatever part of life we’re in? Let me know at jed@kindandfunny.com.