How observant are you? What do you observe as you look around you, wherever you are right now?
Think about someone you had a conversation with today – how accurately can you describe what that person was wearing? Their hair style?
Or think of a route you walk all the time – maybe to work, or your local shop. Last time you walked it, was anything different?
When it comes to this kind of observation, I am hopeless. I would be of no use at all on a police identity line up.
But we are all wired to observe differently depending on our context and motivation.
I have a friend who is a writer, who notices the words, expressions and phrases people use. Snatches of conversation will be noted down as intriguing openers to future scenarios or stories. Similarly, a poet friend notices words or phrases on signs in public spaces, words that spark an idea or thought that then grows arms and legs and becomes a fully grown poem.
MB (My Beloved as he is known here) is a keen photographer – the photos on this blog and website are all his. Elder daughter is a keen observer of the aesthetic, so the two of them can notice a beautiful shot or an unusual angle where I might merely see ordinary day to day life.
Me? as a life coach, I’m naturally curious about people’s stories, and especially their WHY. So I’m tuned in to observe what people say, and more, how they say it.
Where is all this leading, you might ask?
What are we supposed to observe?
In our quest to explore and debunk the myths surrounding creativity, one of the characteristics noted about highly creative people is that they observe everything. Possibilities are endless and everywhere, when you stop and notice – when you observe, without necessarily having to react or even process what you observe. And everything then becomes fodder for creative expression.
This is linked both to last week’s musings on letting your mind wander and taking time to daydream, and to next week’s, which will be on the importance of solitude.
Because we sometimes need to learn to stop, still our minds enough to have time and space to notice what is going on around us. To be open to the world we are present in, and all the astonishing input going into our brains through all our senses.
To tune in, in that moment, to what is beautiful or extraordinary, in the midst of the mundane.
This can be the spark to…
ignite the creative…
inspire new ideas….
gain a fresh perspective.
Anything that gets us out of our heads, and able to observe with new eyes and new appreciation.