Doing things differently

One of my regular bus routes has been on diversion for a few weeks causing great inconvenience at times, yet a welcome distraction at others. The diversion is due to a huge building site at ‘Scotch House Corner’, the corner of Knightsbridge where Burberry now stands, but which used to be a charming store called The Scotch House where you could buy all manner of Shetland, cashmere and tartanwear – how very this season! The irksome building work is down to the Candy Brothers, two infamous property developers who have razed that particular junction of Knightsbridge to the ground in order to erect their extravagant brand of luxe appartments, all at the inconvenience of we mere civilians (and no small number of tourists) trying to access Harvey Nichols, Sloane Street and the Royal Albert Hall.

Yet on the other hand – with a bit of forward planning – it’s quite nice going about business via a different route. My journey from Sloane Square to home takes me on a detour via Brompton Road where I can ogle the Skandium window displays and remind myself for the nth time that I really must pay the V&A shop museum a visit soon. I am also treated to the day-by-day development of the London Fashion Week tents in the grounds of the breathtaking Natural History Museum – is it me or do they seem to build the tents earlier every year?

Taking a different route to my appointments reminds me how easy it is to get stuck in old routines and it really is true that doing things differently makes you see life from another perspective. So much of our daily grind is governed for us, maybe we should pay more attention to what we do and why and take an active role in occassionally going against the grain. Who knows what you might discover?