When my kids were younger, a trip to a hands-on museum like MOST would definitely bring joy and excitement. At 18 and 15 I was beginning to doubt my choice of activity for the day when I saw the sign below.
Instead of heading to the exhibits we went straight to Bristol IMAX Theatre for the Amazon movie. Amazon is a 40-minute movie directed by Keith Merrill. Some of the scenes and stories brought back memories of our travels through Peru. It brought us to Machu Picchu, the Urubamba River and the healing plants of the indigenous people.
Despite suffering from motion sickness during the movie -yes you will get motion sickness at the IMAX theatre, we learned a few things about medicinal plants, the fauna and flora of the Amazon jungle and the life of Dr. Mark Plotkin, an ethnobotanist, Julio Mamani, the shaman from the Andes and lifestyle of tribal people in the jungle.
Outside at the exhibits, little kids were either running around or getting busy with their hands. A gentleman was showing how steam engines work with his little metal device filled with steam and two big Knex toy wheels. Looking at the Knex Ferris wheel, I remembered having one at home five years ago and my son refused to play with it because it frustrated him. He preferred Lego and Lincoln Logs.
Everything seemed ordinary until I saw Toothpick World, the creation of a genius! As a traveler I am naturally drawn to the world famous towers and buildings, even if they were miniatures. In the little corner were Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Yankee Stadium, Leaning Tower of Pisa, La Sagrada Familia, Arc de Triomphe and more.
The artist Stan Munro has been gluing over 4 million toothpicks in the last 10 years to create 200 famous architectural buildings and monuments. To me, the Toothpick World exhibit is worth the trip to MOST Museum.
The art reminded us of the importance of focus and determination. A few steps away was one exhibit that shows how focus can blur off unimportant things and distractions.
You stare at the image in the center of the screen and the moving objects and the surrounding objects will disappear. According to the explanation at the exhibit, our brain considers our point of focus and moving objects as important information, while stationary objects in our peripheral vision are considered less important.
How true is that about getting things done and making some goals come true!
These less important objects are ignored by our brain and seem to disappear. I began to stare at the objects and after about two minutes, the object on the bottom right disappeared followed by the top right. When I got distracted, the objects appeared again.
MOST was not just for the 48-inch tall kid. We learned something from Amazon movie at the IMAX theatre, the works of Stan Munro were inspirational and the experiment proved to me that focus is so important for business and everyday living.
Alexander Graham Bell said, “Concentrate all your thoughts upon your work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.”
If you are in Syracuse, remember to make a trip to the MOST Museum. You never know what might inspire you to reach for the stars or ride on a blue horse.
Note: Our thanks to VisitSyracuse. Go to VisitSyracuse website and find out more about Syracuse as your next travel destination.
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