The art of going NOWHERE

When you make the journey the destination, you can end up exactly where you need to be, writes Greta Solomon

- Greta Solomon

When I was little, as Sunday evening began to draw in and me and my siblings grew restless, someone would invariably suggest going for a drive. We'd all pile into the car; Mum, Dad, and the four of us, and just drive around. We wouldn't actually go anywhere; there were no pit stops, and no destination (other than returning right back to where we started). Yet, we loved it. We'd emerge refreshed from what we'd seen on the way - and never more so than when we left the suburbs and ventured into central London, a world in itself for someone always on the outskirts. There, we'd find skyscrapers, and black cabs, and hop-on-and-off buses with ticket collectors. I knew there was potential and possibility for something more.

When I was 11, and tired of taming my afro hair into Medusa-style plaits, I wrote to the now defunct Hi! magazine to ask for a makeover. I got a yes, and an invitation to a central London photographic studio. And, finally, I got to travel in one of those cabs - excitedly saving the receipt so the magazine could expense it. By going nowhere, I'd ended up somewhere. A decade later, I was a magazine journalist working in London every day.

Seeing with fresh eyes

There's solid science behind why we experience a shift in mindset from taking journeys. 'Being on the move gives us access to fractal patterns,' explains chartered psychologist and author Suzy Reading. 'These are patterns that occur on a progressively finer scale. They're prevalent in natural landscapes, such as those seen in mountains, coastlines, fields, and even the moving cloudscape. Fractal patterns bring the mind into a relaxed but alert state - perfect for creativity.'