A Purple Sunset. Equinox. March, 2016.

Some days I struggle to find inspiration. I wander around through the grey and bland streets, skies and masses. A winter stretching out too long. The cold starting to eat at my bones, stealing my energy and lust for life. On this day about a month ago, Equinox, I dragged myself out of bed in the early afternoon to find the sun shining. I could barely feel its warmth on my skin, but the brightness seemed to change everything.

We rode out past Amagerfælled looking for sticks and trees and wilderness. I wasn't sure that I would find anything, because it isn't just about what is around me, but about the creative energy within. It had somewhat dulled during the weeks previously. Riding out there, I began to spot small things. As if because I was looking for something beautiful, they started to appear everywhere. Just like the theory I have just discovered is called the "Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon". You see something once, you see it everywhere. I squeeled in delight at a rusty submarine lying in what seemed like an inhabited junkyard, with caravans, cars and a cat. On and on we went, further into the woods. The further we went, the more I saw, the more my energy grew. I was a child on an adventure. When we were riding back, the sun had dropped below the horizon, due East I might add. I looked back only to see this line of cloud above the trees. Truly as if someone had taken a paintbrush and slashed purple accross the sky.

The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. I am referring to this phenomenon, not because I started to notice clouds, or that I have started to see a certain author mentioned in every cafe, or that I always see Volvo 240's chugging around town, but that this phenomenon can be applied to something more abstract. The simple notion of noticing "beautiful things" everywhere. The same way that one could notice negative things instead. When I first arrived in Copenhagen, I was annoyed by the amount of rules they have here. I felt claustrophic, suffocated by not being allowed to do whatever I wanted. Don't park your bike here. Take your bike in through this door, and out through the other. Park your bike facing forward on the train. Get on the bus through the front door, and always leave through the middle door. Cross when it is green - never jaywalk. Take a number. Wear black. Don't smile at strangers. Work 9-5. Have a plan. They literally have little signs with rules to follow, e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. You get the gist. I fixated on one thing, and so I saw the little signs everywhere.

My point isn't a negative one though. I am actually pointing out my fault, my weakness during that time. If you have a negative mindset, you're going to see things everywhere that support your negative view. You won't notice the good things. I was working at a French restaurant for a while, and the chef had a negative outlook on Danes. He let such small things annoy him. He would complain about how stupid it looked when Danes came out of hibernation, sat down in the sun, turning their face up with their eyes closed. His negativity gave me a little bit of my own medecine, and so I started to look for positive things.

I listened to a wonderful podcast on Radio National on the Ethics of Happiness. The first speaker suggests 7 easy things to ask yourself and pay attention to over the course of one week. The two that have had the most effect, were as follows: 1. Each day, ask yourself what are you most grateful for, and why. This turns expectation into appreciation. 2. When have you felt and do you feel most alive? Two interesting little questions to give an alternative perspective on the self. A more positive outlook and an increased awareness on what you need to cultivate and include in your routine, to give yourself increased general happiness. Or to help you realise that you are actually happy, you just can't see it.

"And he took a paintbrush and carelessly drew purple across the sky..."

After taking this photo, we walked over a bridge above a main motorway or freeway. I had such a build up of energy, such happiness and excitement tangled and confused in my body. Smiling, I turned to face the cars below, took in a deep breath and screamed until my lungs were empty of air. Laughing I looked ahead to where she was, only 20 metres away, walking with her bike. I ran to catch up and asked "Didn't you hear me?" She looked at me with irritation, her patience withering as fast as the temperature was dropping. "No..?" Her feet were cold. It was all she could think about. I looked back at the bridge and wondered how that could be.

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