Kaleidoscope

Martin told The Wall Street Journal the poem helped him get through the breakdown of his marriage to Gwyneth Paltrow, which left him feeling "depressed and overwhelmed." "It kind of changed my life," he said of the work. "It says that everything that happens to you is OK." "The Guest House is about accepting the negative along with the positive," he continued. "It's about every feeling that you have being a gift. Self-doubt and depression as well as all the joyful feelings are all useful if you can harness them."

The kaleidoscope is an optical toy, where the user sees many beautiful, colourful patterns. It was invented in 1817 by Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster (December 11, 1781 – February 10, 1868). He also invented the binocular camera, the polyzonal lens and the lighthouse illuminator, as well as coming up with an improved version of the stereoscope applied to photography, which was the first portable, 3D viewing device. The word "kaleidoscope" is derived from the Ancient Greek kalos, "beautiful, beauty", eidos, "that which is seen: form, shape" and skope, "to look to, to examine."

The use of a kaleidoscope by a song writer is generally as a metaphor for a vast diversity of something such as emotions, passions or cultures. Miguel's "Kaleidoscope Dream," for instance, describes a woman with so many qualities, she is almost like a dream. Other lyrical examples include: "Uncharted" by Sara Bareilles ("Jump start my kaleidoscope heart. Love to watch the colors fade.") "Welcome to New York" by Taylor Swift ("Walkin' through a crowd, the village is a glow. Kaleidoscope of a loud, heart beats under coats. Everybody here wanted somethin' more. Searchin' for a sound we hadn't heard before.") "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" by Elton John ("There's a time for everyone if they only learn. That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn.") Alternatively the "kaleidoscope" can be used in a more psychedelic way to describe something very colorful - most famously when John Lennon sung of a girl's "kaleidoscope eyes" in The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds."