Doors of Edinburgh.
It’s been a while since I’ve participated in a Thursday Doors post.
Don’t know what Thursday Doors is? It’s a place where door lovers of the world come together to share photos of, what else…. doors. It’s hosted by Norm 2.0 and you can check out other doors here. After checking out Norm’s fabulous doors, scroll down to the blue link to check out all the others.
In my past, I never was a door lover. I might see a nice one and admire it, but I never sought them out. I shared in this post how stumbling upon Thursday Doors changed the way that I view the everyday world.
Even though I don’t participate in many challenges, I do love how they tend to make me stop and think.
To take notice of something.
To think differently.
I think 99 times and I find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me. -Albert Einstein.
That’s why when I was catching up on blog reading and saw that Nikki at Flying Through Water was starting her first creative prompt and theme was RELAX, I knew that I’d have to join in.
I am not very good at relaxing.
I often like to relax with a good book or walking along the shore of the ocean.
But today, a stroll through some beautiful doors of Edinburgh, Scotland changes my focus and relaxes my soul.
I shared in last week’s Friday Faves about the Bedlam Theatre whose door is shown above.
Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges. So relax. -Bryant McGill
As promised, here is the building in all its neo-gothic glory. Bedlam is a fully operational 90-seat theatre in the heart of Edinburgh. It is both a listed building and a historical landmark.
Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are. – Chinese Proverb
The door above I spied from across the street.
I loved the symmetry of the lampposts and the rounded double doors with the rounded window above. I didn’t want to cross the street and thought the interesting paint job with its blacks and silvers of the car complemented the building.
It wasn’t until I was processing the photo that I noticed there was a sign indicating the nature of the building.
This is the door to St. Mark’s Unitarian Church.
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you. -Anne Lamott
Door searching has become such a part of my life that both my aunt and mother would point them out saying “Ooh Amy, here’s a good door”. So now they notice doors as well!
The door above was near Edinburgh Castle.
It is St. Columba’s by the Castle. An Episcopal church that describes itself as a progressive congregation worshipping in a mid-19th century Victorian church located just off the Royal Mile in the center of Edinburgh’s Old town.
Things become complicated only when we think about them. -Alan Watts
On the door above, I didn’t write down its location. Given that the photo is sandwiched between St. Columba’s and the photo below, I think that it was a side door to the building shown below.
Live your life by a compass, not a clock – Stephen Covey
This building is The Hub.
The building was originally built between 1842 and 1845, as the Victoria Hall, to house the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It was created by architects James Gillespie Graham and Augustus Welby Pugin.
In 1999, the building underwent a transformation to create offices and performance space for the Edinburgh International Festival.
As well as having the Cafe, there is also space for weddings and many other types of events.
I stumbled across one of my favorite doors on a drizzly day out in Edinburgh.
We had purchased our pulled pork sandwiches at Oink on Victoria Street. The shop was crowded so we decided to head down to the Grassmarket to find a place to sit. We ended up ducking into what we thought was just a close (an alley), but really was a roadway that was to a gated section of George Heriot’s School. The school is speculated to be the inspiration for Hogwarts due to its architectural style. Another fact of the school is that the pupils at the school belong to one of four houses: Lauriston, Greyfriars, Raeburn, and Castle.
Curious…
You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens. -Many Hale
We moved out of the close and down to catch the sightseeing bus that we had a 48-hour ticket on. While tasting a piece of my aunt’s scone, I spied this door across the street.
41 Grassmarket.
The door itself isn’t quite that spectacular, but the windows and potted flowers draw your eye in and create a tranquil scene.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little stroll along some doorways that I found while meandering along the streets of Edinburgh
I hope that you find moments to enjoy the little things and notice them with a new set of eyes.
Eyes that seek the beauty to be found everywhere.
If we only pause.
Let your light shine!
Amy
