About Lynsey

I’ve used ‘Explorer’ as my occupation for years. I’ve been surprised by the responses this single word has provoked – from disbelief – ‘You can’t possibly be an explorer!’ – to cynical – ‘You, an explorer? Yeah, right!’ – through to envious joy – ‘Really, I so want to do that too!’.

The good news is you can. You don’t have to wear cargo shorts and a pith helmet to be an explorer (although you can if you want). All you need to do is give yourself permission to go and explore. And then do so. Try it. Say out loud, “I, [insert your name here], give myself permission to explore.” Right. That’s done, so toddle off and start exploring. What are you waiting for? When you were a little kid you wouldn’t have needed to be told twice, you would’ve just got on with it. In fact, you were so busy exploring we wouldn’t have even had this conversation.

So what happened? Where did you go? When did the familiar become so jaded, so invisible?

It happens when you stop looking. More importantly, more dangerously, it happens when you stop seeing.

If you look as closely at the commonplace things around you, as you would if it were foreign and exotic, you’ll find your everyday existence is just as fascinating and worthy as anything, anywhere. After all, from the perspective of someone from the other side of the globe, what you do is interesting and foreign, and yes, exotic; even if (to you) it is just another boring day doing the same old same old.

Even in a less exaggerated description, any verbal account of a person is bound to find itself employing an assortment of waterfalls, lightning rods, landscapes, birds, etc. — Sergei Eisenstein

What’s the story here? It’s about seeing, perhaps for the first time. My mission is to produce works that resonate with people, and elicit responses drawn from the many layers of personal experience. I’m looking to explore through my work with my camera and writing; as ever, in exploration of the uncharted territory within me. I’ve written before about exploring without a map: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 4 (cont), part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8. It’s also ok to take some time to achieve mastery. I hope that people are able to empathise with my stories – or – be encouraged and challenged to take some time to explore and find their own stories.

Every Day Believe You Can

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