Enjoyed reading this. It’s a special way of seeing that we have to develop in order to see the mundane or small details and the ‘big picture’ before us...and we live in a world where there is soooo much going on all around us. This reminded me of instructions when learning to drive. Pay attention to what’s going on immediately close around you and keep an eye on the ‘big picture’ at the same time.
That way of seeing made such an impression on me. Maybe because as a child in the backseat of the car when my father was driving, I watched all kinds of small mundane things outside the car window and did not have to concern myself with the over all ‘big picture’ ahead....having no awareness of the need to see both. But not until years later, with that instruction for driving, did I hear it formalized as a way of seeing. This reminded me how much we sometimes miss and are amazed that we did. Yet I’ve noticed when I’m thinking about something else, and like the comment before by Tomi Daniel, I can look literally without seeing, missing what’s right in front of me.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I so enjoyed reading this piece!
Wow, guilty! I do this a lot, although mine is a slightly different version of 'looking without seeing.' I have looked at people without seeing them, looked at pages without seeing some words, and at bookshelves without seeing some books. On my fifth return to the closet, I finally see the shirt that I have looked at four times already. I look at people at regular meetings for months before I finally "see" them. As you rightly pointed out, often it's because of our assumptions that we cannot, so we do not. I guess that gets us back to the need for an open mind, genuine curiosity, and an intentionality to seek to know and find out what "the bulky red boxes sprouting from the sidewalk" is wherever we encounter them. :) Thanks for the reminder to all of us to make that conscious effort to look with fresh eyes at all that is before us.
*Sheepishly taking off my earbuds* as I read this on the subway. Mailboxes are so fascinating to me because they are (often) an intersection of interesting design and government bureaucracy.
Thanks for the very kind mention of my Baldwin piece!
So glad to find your letter in my digital mailbox this morning 😊📮
Of course, it happens to me all the time. Most often when I'm overworked and tired, I just lose sight of the small things, the quirky details. I used to be more attentive in the past when I had the time to do street photography every day, I miss those long wandering hours!
I love Japanese mailboxes, probably because they remind me of my Tokyo childhood. I never noticed how much like British postboxes they are, but on my recent UK trip I was very aware of their cheerful ubiquity.
The Japanese post boxes are distinctively red and it is a treat to come across the outliers. I have not started watching From Scratch but adored the audible version read by the author and did not want to be disappointed. May binge this weekend so we can discuss. 😊
Enjoyed reading this. It’s a special way of seeing that we have to develop in order to see the mundane or small details and the ‘big picture’ before us...and we live in a world where there is soooo much going on all around us. This reminded me of instructions when learning to drive. Pay attention to what’s going on immediately close around you and keep an eye on the ‘big picture’ at the same time.
That way of seeing made such an impression on me. Maybe because as a child in the backseat of the car when my father was driving, I watched all kinds of small mundane things outside the car window and did not have to concern myself with the over all ‘big picture’ ahead....having no awareness of the need to see both. But not until years later, with that instruction for driving, did I hear it formalized as a way of seeing. This reminded me how much we sometimes miss and are amazed that we did. Yet I’ve noticed when I’m thinking about something else, and like the comment before by Tomi Daniel, I can look literally without seeing, missing what’s right in front of me.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I so enjoyed reading this piece!
Wow, guilty! I do this a lot, although mine is a slightly different version of 'looking without seeing.' I have looked at people without seeing them, looked at pages without seeing some words, and at bookshelves without seeing some books. On my fifth return to the closet, I finally see the shirt that I have looked at four times already. I look at people at regular meetings for months before I finally "see" them. As you rightly pointed out, often it's because of our assumptions that we cannot, so we do not. I guess that gets us back to the need for an open mind, genuine curiosity, and an intentionality to seek to know and find out what "the bulky red boxes sprouting from the sidewalk" is wherever we encounter them. :) Thanks for the reminder to all of us to make that conscious effort to look with fresh eyes at all that is before us.
*Sheepishly taking off my earbuds* as I read this on the subway. Mailboxes are so fascinating to me because they are (often) an intersection of interesting design and government bureaucracy.
Thanks for the very kind mention of my Baldwin piece!
So glad to find your letter in my digital mailbox this morning 😊📮
Of course, it happens to me all the time. Most often when I'm overworked and tired, I just lose sight of the small things, the quirky details. I used to be more attentive in the past when I had the time to do street photography every day, I miss those long wandering hours!
(you make me miss Japan terribly!)
I love Japanese mailboxes, probably because they remind me of my Tokyo childhood. I never noticed how much like British postboxes they are, but on my recent UK trip I was very aware of their cheerful ubiquity.
Does my husband count as an “everyday object?” 😬 Sometimes I go for longer than seems normal not really seeing him, in the same way as your mailboxes…
The Japanese post boxes are distinctively red and it is a treat to come across the outliers. I have not started watching From Scratch but adored the audible version read by the author and did not want to be disappointed. May binge this weekend so we can discuss. 😊
I've been meaning to watch it and could not tell (not paying attention) if it was a rom-com or not. I now will. Thanks Z!
From p - short for perryne