Thank you for the mention Kerri. I love your thought of being in "observational mode" and how your husband is attune to noticing that which normally remains unnoticed. They are such great and necessary skills and dispositions to nurture.
One thing I have found helps me to be a better observer is to learn the names of what I see. This helps me differentiate the unusual from the usual, the rare from the common (and appreciate both the common and the rare) and the act of differentiation/identification itself forces one to observe the unique features of what one is beholding.
Thanks, Hadden! I read something recently from someone who said she had decided to learn the names of her local trees. Now that I'm spending more time in nature, I'm tempted to do the same! I can see your point about how the act of identification can be a means to deeper observation.
What a lovely surprise to be among so much lovely writing - thank you so much Kerri! Observation is absolutely a skill. Perhaps some of us are more inclined towards it at the start, but it is something to be practiced and honed. I think of my farmer grandfather and how he could see snakes when none of the rest of us could - he honed that practice for many many years walking his paddocks! I am a big believer in "the more you see, the more you see". :)
“The more you see, the more you see" - what a great way to put it, Natalie! Thanks for encouraging your readers to view it as practice and not inborn talent.
I am not an observer by nature, but I want to start a daily drawing practice to help improve my observation skills!
That’s such a neat idea! I hope you’ll write about it if you do it.
A tiny daily practice is such an act of curiosity and compassion - and reciprocity. Wishing you so much happy sketching!
Thank you for the mention Kerri. I love your thought of being in "observational mode" and how your husband is attune to noticing that which normally remains unnoticed. They are such great and necessary skills and dispositions to nurture.
One thing I have found helps me to be a better observer is to learn the names of what I see. This helps me differentiate the unusual from the usual, the rare from the common (and appreciate both the common and the rare) and the act of differentiation/identification itself forces one to observe the unique features of what one is beholding.
Thanks, Hadden! I read something recently from someone who said she had decided to learn the names of her local trees. Now that I'm spending more time in nature, I'm tempted to do the same! I can see your point about how the act of identification can be a means to deeper observation.
What a lovely surprise to be among so much lovely writing - thank you so much Kerri! Observation is absolutely a skill. Perhaps some of us are more inclined towards it at the start, but it is something to be practiced and honed. I think of my farmer grandfather and how he could see snakes when none of the rest of us could - he honed that practice for many many years walking his paddocks! I am a big believer in "the more you see, the more you see". :)
“The more you see, the more you see" - what a great way to put it, Natalie! Thanks for encouraging your readers to view it as practice and not inborn talent.