Illusions and misericords

Illusions are fascinating and intriguing. Some are deliberately set up and some happen naturally. Illusions can help keeping dreams alive. They are timeless and history has seen it’s share too. Misericords are one such example from the 14th and 15th centuries. Join me on this podcast as I share some of our experiences with illusions and more about misericords. 

Transcript

Episode 114: Illusions and misericords

Hello Everyone, and welcome to the podcast of the Ordinary Maverick. This is Ajey, your host, an ordinary Maverick sharing real life thoughts and experiences and Maverick tips. If you haven’t hit the subscribe button yet, please do so, and you’ll not miss another episode.

And just like that, we are in the last month of the year. Wow! 2023 has just whizzed by. Did you’ll also feel what I did? That 2020 and 2021 with the pandemic were interesting and challenging years and then 2022 was like tentative, we were  all kind of learning to get into the norm again, traveling, socializing…doing it tentatively, a bit unsure and then 2023 was just all out. We were traveling, holidaying, partying, having get togethers, weddings, celebrations ….full on as they say. It’s almost as if the pandemic never happened.  

That the time in 2020 and 2021 was an illusion! I get that strange feeling sometimes, did it all really happen? Just the other day we were discussing with friends over dinner, what a time that was….bizarre if you think about it. And with such long lasting effects on all of us, some physical, some emotional, regardless of what they were…one thing is for sure…it was definitely life changing.

You know, illusions are something that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses. They can be visual, auditory or tactile. Makes me recall the incident with a famous magician who came in over an hour late for his show once. People were beginning to grumble and express their annoyance when he finally came on stage, an hour late. But then, he asked everyone to look at their watches and lo and behold, everyone’s watch showed the time that was a hour early! The right time of the show….and he said…Folks, we are starting right on time. Wow! That was some visual illusion….He did get a standing ovation and the show was a big success…despite starting an hour late.

Illusions can be set up too. We recently experienced some of this while looking for a new house to buy. Open houses are set up and every house you go to looks super inviting, warm and feels like just the right one. Must say….excellent illusions. Ha ha. One needs experience and of course, that practical lens to see beyond the illusion being created and judge whether the house is actually suited for your needs and your style of living. Definitely experience plays a big role here. We’ve gone through that in our life as we moved several times and looked for places to stay. Recently, our daughter went through some of the ‘staging’ experience while looking for a place to stay. The apartments all looked good when visited as there was lovely, warm lighting, scented candles and just a very nice warm ambience. One tends to overlook checking for plumbing issues, water seepage, mold etc when the staging is done well. It’s a bit like the visual illusion we spoke about. 

Illusions and hallucinations…what’s the difference? Well, hallucination is when there is distortion in the absence of a stimulus while illusion is a misrepresentation of a true sensation. And that’s a big difference. Like hearing voices when there is nothing, is an hallucination….but then if one starts hearing voices in the sound of running water …now that could be an illusion. 

But some illusions are purposefully created. Am sure that got you thinking….one of our favorite illusions as a family and we do this often…is rearranging our living space to give the illusion of space. Must say it took me some time to get used to it! I would come back from a trip and find that the furniture was rearranged in our living room or bedroom…all for the illusion of creating space, openness…feeling of looking spacious, warm etc etc. it was true though…the changes in the setting can help in shifting our perception and make rooms look bigger, more inviting. I mean that’s what designers do. We see that in hotel rooms too. 

In fact one of the most creative illusions I’ve seen is at an airport hotel which was within the terminal building. The room had curtains with curtain rods etc…giving the illusion of windows that were covered. But when one pulled the curtains…it was just a wall! The room had no windows..but just having the curtains there gave an illusion of windows and made the room more appealing. 

Of course, the master of illusions is Disneyland! One is transported into visual illusions of the most imaginative kind, into magical lands and far away places, into your childhood fantasies…so much fun!

Speaking of Disneyland, one of our sweetest memories is taking our girls when they were 5 and 6 years old, and seeing the magic through their eyes. Now our girls were at the ‘Princess mad stage’ …and you know what that is…they were in love with all the Disney princesses and their stories. My little one was fascinated by Cinderella. And when she met Cinderalla in Disney land…we saw that she bent down to lift  her beautiful gown up..we were all wondering what was happening and asked her what she was doing. And she replied, I am looking to see her glass slipper! Such was the magic of the illusion created that our girls were totally in that world and believed they were meeting Cinderella. To give full credit to Disney and the girl playing that role…she kept up the illusion and calmly responded to my daughter saying that her glass slippers are kept safely in her closet and she’s wearing another pair today!

For my daughter, that was the highlight of the trip…she was so super excited and happy about meeting Cinderella and knowing that her glass slippers were for real. Have to say, some illusions are good ones…and keeping a child’s imagination and dream world alive is definitely one of those on my list.

Fellow Mavericks, let’s keep up some illusions, right…at least the ones that make our lives beautiful and those that keep traditions going. Well, before I leave you’ll, I want to share an illusion from history. If you’ve been hearing all my podcasts, you know there’s a love of history embedded there. 

So, 2023 was a year of travel for many of us and it was fun to be back in the exploring mode. We went to Ireland for the first time and the country sure lived up to its reputation. Stunning vistas, gorgeous skies, warm and friendly people, great food and drinks and lot of Irish traditions and history that was interesting and fun to learn more about.

We visited the Saint Mary’s cathedral in Limerick, which was founded in 1168 and is the oldest building in Limerick which is still in use. And it has the only complete set of misericords left in Ireland. These are pre Elizabethan carvings probably dating to 1480-1500. We were intrigued by the misericords. What were they? And finding out more was even more interesting….So here’s the story. In those early times, priests stood for most of the services and sitting was prohibited. So, here is where the misericords came into play, the carved sears had a lip on the edge and that allowed the priest to rest while the seats were tipped up so that they appeared to be standing but were allowed to sit in the act of mercy….and that’s where the name came from misericords.

There are 21 misericords in the cathedral and they all have mediaeval emblems like a griffin, a sphinx, a wild boar, an angel, an eagle a dragon biting its tail…just so beautiful and intricately carved.

Illusion is timeless…right? Ha ha….this was way back in the 1100s ….am sure many folks attending these services thought…wow…the priests are really able to stand for the entire time of the ceremony…little knowing they were able to rest their knees on these skillfully carved misericords.

Yes, an act of mercy…but also one that alleviated misery! Genius!

Well, on that note, Mavericks, nurture your inner genius and illusions or no illusions, we leave behind any miseries and step forward into the new year.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year, safe, healthy and one that brings joy and happiness and peace.

My very best, do share your thoughts at ‘theordinarymaverick@gmail.com’ and follow me on Instagram #theordinarymaverick.  I love hearing from you. This is Ajey, signing off and wishing you have an amazing rest of the year and kickstart the new year doing what makes you happy! Keep well. 

This podcast series was put together as a team effort from the Bhardwaj family.  Concept, design, title, researchers and reviewers: Ajey, Sanjana, Avantika and Niharika Bhardwaj; Script– Sanjana; Cover design – Niharika. All rights reserved.