I like it just because I like it

There are plenty of galleries and museums in Paris to keep you busy for a long time.  I started taking pictures of posters in cafes and on metro walls advertising artists at particular museums and galleries so I wouldn't forget what I wanted to see.  I couldn't keep up with it!  And then, in the last few months I discovered a new gallery.  It's the streets of Paris.  No one has already decided that the artist is important enough for an exhibition.  No one is telling me that they are talented and deserve praise.  I just see it and I get to decide by myself if it's good or not.  And I usually  make this decision of "goodness" based simply on the fact that I like it.  I thought this one was good.  Really good.  And then, someone came along and made it better. They set a pair of blacks boots on the street at the feet of the painting.  Would it have caught my eye as much without the boots?  I'm not sure.  It was brilliant.  And it was my favorite discovery of the day.  But, back to this idea of someone telling us that something is worthy of being admired. We seldom form opinions of things and people  on our own with no outside input.   There's almost always some kind of  influence to change the way we see things. We ask someone what they do for a living and we form an opinion.  We find out their address and we know how much money they make.  We see their clothes with labels or no labels and we know what's important to them.  I think it's actually impossible not to do it.  But, I've realized that's one thing I like about traveling.  When I meet someone, I just meet the person.   I don't know if their neighborhood is cool.  I don't know if their jeans are in fashion.  I don't even know if they have good or bad grammar!  (Which usually tells us a lot....no pun intended).  And I think this lack of outside influence has  brought me to some interesting people.  Probably people I wouldn't spend time with at home.  And for no other reason than the fact that they wouldn't be a part of my tiny circle.  I'm not saying that I'm not open to this in Chicago.  Actually, I think it's more a part of my life than most.  I used to cry with my dry cleaner, go to lunch with the building janitor and talk about how to have less fat in your diet with the 7/11 salesclerk as she lifted up her shirt to jiggle her fat stomach. (Strangely enough as I was typing this I realized that they are Turkish, Indian and Mexican.  Does this mean I'm always kind of traveling?)  Anyway, this day of Parisian graffiti reminded me that it's nice to spend a day liking what I like just because I like it.  And I liked this painting and I might like the guy who painted it.  And I'm sure I'd like the person who left the boots.