The subtle Art of reframing the world and changing your life…
Welcome to our Museum.
We're a global museum, dedicated to the unexpected beauty of... bird shit.
Absurd
The Museum of Bird Shit is probably the most absurd museum in the world. It’s dedicated to one of the most despised phenomena around the globe: bird shit.
Reframing
The museum challenges our perception of the world and thereby our reality. It takes a thing everyone hates (birdshit) and reframes it into a thing of beauty, maybe art.
"Gross?"
"Art?"
Collection 1: Birdshit
The museum has a vast and ever expanding collection of artworks. The next 9 pictures will give you a taste (sorry for that word) of our strange collections.
Location
We are a hybrid museum. You can visit us online and in the real world. We’re in every park in every city of the world. Probably even in the street where you live. The only thing you have to do is change your mindset and pay attention. And maybe take a picture and send it to us...
Why birdshit?
We deliberately chose one of the most disgusting things, because…
We all hate it…
We chose birdshit because everybody hates it. Especially when there is lots of it in inconvenient places, like your car, your coat or your hair.
Yet, what if…?
Yet, if you can overcome your initial disgust, and manage to discover beauty in such an unexpected thing, you’ve mastered the art of reframing.
Why this museum?
Our museum has 4 underlying messages:
1: BEAUTY = EVERWHERE
We don't have to fly to Moma in New York, The Tate Modern in London, or The Louvre in Paris to experience art and beauty. Art and beauty are anywhere around us. Even in bird shit. We just have to pay attention, change our perception, and reframe what we see.
2: REALITY = PERCEPTION
Reality doesn’t exist. Or, to put it more accurate: we’re not able to experience reality directly. We can only experience it through our five (or six) senses. This means our perception is subjective. It is not ‘real’. So birdshit isn't neccesarily gross. That's just our perception.
3: MEANING = STORY
Our brains are meaning-machines. They attach a meaning to everything we perceive. In een flash of a second. But that meaning is nothing more then a story we tell ourselves. A story that is molded by our experience and the culture we are born in. Children find everything interesting, they learn from their parents that something (birdshit) is” is gross
4: STORY = PRISON
As soon as our brain attaches a story to our perception, it will do everything it can to stick to that story. Once we’ve learned that birdshit is gross, our brains will always present it that way. It keeps us trapped in a frame. Our dominant story is our prison. That is: until we break out and reframe that story. Which is what this museum is all about.
The important thing to know is that we can change that story. From "Birdshit is gross" to "Bird shit is art".
The subtle art of reframing
How do you reframe birdshit from being gross to beautiful.
1. Accept
First of all: you probably won’t be able to NOT experience it as gross. Not as an initial reaction. You are wired to see it as gross, so you will. Don’t fight it. Just accept what comes up and observe it without attachment
2. Let go
Let your initial reaction pass away. When you accept it as it is, observe it without emotional attachment, the reaction will fade a little. Just like a cloud passing by in the sky.
3. Get curious
Now try to get curious. Pretend you are a three year old again, who sees the world for the first time, and who hasn’t learned that birdshit is gross.
4. Discover
Discover something new. Something you didn’t notice when you were overwhelmed by you initial disgust. Maybe it’s a beautiful color or an interesting texture. There is allways something to discover!
5. Reframe
Now try to reframe what you saw. Ask: what else can this mean? Can I experience it as beauty, or at least as interesting?
The Benefits of Reframing
By de-automating our perception and reactions we create room for other interpretations. We are no longer hijacked by our past and are open for new opportunities. The more we exercise reframing, the more successful we become (although even succes is just an interpretation.)
Not just birdshit
Now, of course the automatic-meaning-machine in our brains, is not only active when we see birdshit. It works all the time. As soon as we perceive something, our mind attaches meaning to it. It creates a story, that we mistake for reality.
But that perceived reality is shaped and molded by our experiences, our education and our culture. We see things through the lens of our experiences. And we get triggered by our automatic reactions.
- Disgust when we see birdshit
- Fear for a spider or a snake
- Jealousy when we see a competitor’s success
- Anger when we get overtaken in traffic
- Feelings of failure when something goes wrong
- Beliefs that something is impossible
- Hatred when we see a political opponent (Democrats vs Republicans in the USA)
- etc, etc, etc…
All these perceptions are NOT reality, they are an automatic product of our education, our culture and our former experiences, and can be reframed.
Still disgusted by birdshit?
Can’t move past the disgust when you see birdshit?
Some people can’t make the leap from birdshit to art. Their automatic reaction is so strong that they can’t look beyond the programming from their past.
If that’s the case, you can try a little less challenging alternative: just hit the streets and make pictures of everything that’s “ugly” or “wrong”.
Now study the pictures you took, find a picture that doesn’t evoke strong feelings and take the the 5 steps of reframing, we described here.
If you want, you can gradually work your way up to some stronger stuff. See our non-birdshit collections below for examples.
Collection 4: stories
In this collection we present 9 pictures that lend themselves to add a story. Just by using our imagination and fantasizing what might be going on in the picture. Playing a game with reality, as it were. Children do this all the time.
The reframing habit
We like to think of reframing as a muscle. The more you use it: the stronger it becomes. So it’s a very good idea to turn reframing into a habit and ask yourself the magic question as often as possible.
The Magic Question:
“Wat else could this mean?”
Most people never reframe. They are hijacked by their automatic thoughts and responses and mistake them for reality. Often they get caught in a loop and keep making the same mistakes all their lives.
Collection 5: The beauty of decay
Most of us have learned to dislike death and decay. But when you disattach yourself from the immediate meaning machine in your head, there is beauty to be found here to. Can you experience it this way?
Examples of Reframing
Now let’s look at some very usefull ways of reframing your own experiences.
Failure
Initial reaction I Failed and that’s a very bad thing.
Reframe: OK that went wrong , What can I learn from this, to get better.
Fear
Initial reaction I’m scared, I’d better stop doing this.
Reframe: I’m leaving my comfort zone, that’s were the opportunies live.
Hate/dislike
Initial reaction I don’t like him, so I’ll avoid him
Reframe: We’re different, how interesting
Problems/Obstacles
Initial reaction There is a problem, that’s not good
Reframe: In every problem lies an opportunity, let’s find it
Initial reaction
Reframe
Traffic Jam
Initial reaction Why does this happen to me?
Reframe: Great: some time to myself, let’s listen to an audiobook
Initial reaction
Reframe
Self doubt
Initial reaction I’m not good at this, let’s stop it now
Reframe: I don’t know this YET, but Everything is figureoutable
Initial reaction
Reframe
Collection 6: Funny
When you start paying more attention to the world around you, you’ll probably find many funny things too.
Reframe your life…
Our life is like birdshit. We’ve come to beleive that we need to study hard, find a job, marry, buy a house, buy a car, make debts, have kids, etc etc. But all of this is just a frame, a story we tell ourselves. A story we can change, if we want to.
Who you are
How you see yourself is also just a story. A story that’s molded by the culture you live in, the education you recieved and the stories you’ve heard all around you your whole life. The more you hear it, the more you believe in it. Until you decide to change the story about yourself.
What you are capable of
Most of us have no idea what we are capable of. We think we are nothing special. Often we think we are not good at something. Or even at many things. But this too is just a story we’ve learned over time, starting with the school teacher who told you you were not good at drawing. Reframe that story: you can learn to be good at anything.
Why you are here
Do you have any idea why you are here? Why you’re living this life. Do you have any idea about your destiny? Most people don’t. But destiny doesn’t need to be fixed. You might want to consider choosing your own destiny. And living the life you really want.
Start a Wow Project
Reframe your life by starting a Wow Project: Using your passions and talents to make the world a little better and yourself a lot happier.
Collection 7: Personalize
In a world of sameness people like to personalize things.
Birdshit for a Better World
We believe the automatic one-dimensional framing is the underlying cause to many problems in the world.
Wars can exist because both parties believe strongly in their story, and are unable (and unwilling) to see the other side.
Of course, a visit to the Museum of Bird Shit is not enough to change the world. But it can teach us a lesson: if we’re able to reframe bird shit into a thing of beauty, we’ve made the first step to reframing everything else that happens to us. And just maybe the world will be a little better because of it.
Collection 8: Riddles
The streets are filled with riddles. Train your curiosity by asking questions like “What does this mean?” Or: “Why is this?”
Things to do next
Hit the streets and discover the artwork (birdshit or other) in your own neigbourhood
Pay attention to your automatic reactions in daily life, and start to override them.
Go Shit-hunting: start looking for the shit in your life and turn it into art. Find the opportunities that are hidden in the obstacle.
Turn reframing into an habit. Ask yourself as often as possible: What more could this mean…
Founder/Curator
Meet the founder and creator of The International Museum of Birdshit: Richard Stomp
“As Chief Wow Officer I help people, teams and organisations to create “Wow”: Things that make our heart beat a little faster and make the world a little better.”
You can read more about him, and find lots of free tools to make the world a little better on richardstomp.com
Collection 9: Faces
Faces are everywhere, when you start noticing them.
Talks and Workshops
Workshops
Talks
Experience the power of reframing yourself in one of our exciting 4-hour Birdshit workshops.
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Let founder Richard Stomp shock AND inspire your audience with his remarkable Birdshit talk.
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Contact…
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Why Reframing
Quote
"We don’t see things as they are We see them as we are” - Anaïs Nin
Why should we want to reframe birdshit, or -even more ambitious- the world around us? What’s wrong with our normal way of living and perceiving?
To anwer that question, we have to examen the way our brains work.
Our brains are incredibly powerful meaning machines. They try to give meaning to everything we experience. They do that in a fraction of a second. In the early days of humanity. this was an important survival mechanisme: when you see a tiger running towards you, you just don't have the time to think carefully about what's happening, you have to react in an instant.
To perform this incredible feat, the brain uses a very clever trick: it compares what they perceive this moment with
We are brainwashed. This may sound a little bit harsh, but
This means that we don’t perceive what’s actually there, we Children are not disgusted by bird shot, theylearn it from their parents