The Harmony in Geometry

My mind works in mysterious ways. For example, whenever I think of a color, place, word, or just anything in particular, I link that subject with an image. Here's what I mean, say that someone says the word "Converse" (referring to the shoes) the first image that immediately pops into my head is a scene from the movie "2012", in which everyone who survives a massive flood goes out to face a whole newly organized planet wearing Converse shoes. Apparently, Converse will be the shoes of the future, and the ones that all governments will choose to provide to people who survive a catastrophe. By the way, I really recommend this movie, it's absolutely hilarious. Anyway, another example is when I think of Seattle. Whenever I think of Seattle, I immediately think of dirty snow. This being that last time I was there it snowed like five inches, though beautiful at first, the snow turned from a crisp white to a dull gray, the result of dirty car tires driving over it.



To get to my point, when thinking of the American Indian Museum, the first image that pops into my head is the image of a circle. After the image of the circle, the song "The Circle of Life" from "The Lion King" then begins to play. So, why a circle? Well, for one, the architecture of the museum itself was round. There were no sharp outer angles but rather undulating and curved surfaces. Also, one thing I almost ignored while in the museum, was the ceiling. The ceiling itself curved upward and ended in a circular roof window (I guess that's what you would call it?) that allowed natural sunlight into the museum. It was all about the circles. However, it all connected with Indian beliefs. Upon reading the information in the exhibitions, I learned that Native Americans saw their world as two bowls put together. One bowl represented the earth, the other was the heavens. When these bowls were put together, a circle was formed. Hence, a sense of completion and togetherness. Also, I remember reading an exhibition that stated that some Native Americans viewed their lives in the shape of a circle. Whenever a disruption occurred, that circle lost form and was not completed. It seemed as if harmony was represented by the shape of a circle.

It's pretty amusing to me that circles are the forms of completion and peace for Native Americans. A flowing and connected figure that loses form when broken is the ideal image for the fragility and at times inconstant moments in life. I absolutely hate anything that has to do with Geometry but for this event, the circle seems like the perfect shape to symbolize a life full of peace and happiness.