Noticing one’s life always has an outcome.
Sometimes it can be a passive outcome where it can initiate thought and sometimes it can be an active outcome where it can trigger change.
It can be defined as the act of noticing or the art of noticing. Sometimes, both exist in tandem.
The act is about our need to have a call-to-action so that we can be in touch and engaged with our surroundings…with our lives. It is what makes us vital, vibrant, and dynamic.
The art of noticing is about how we can be transformed or transported by what we notice.
Noticing can describe and translate the state of being we enjoy as a result of it. It can make us more alert, more creative, more focused, more appreciative, more loving, and more patient, to name a few.
Noticing can show up as the most obvious or the most understated and discreet.
I experienced the latter during a morning run.
As I entered the familiar riverside park I frequented for many years, I noticed a sign, close to the ground, off to the side of the entrance road. It read, “Thank you so much for reading this nonsense. Enjoy!” It was signed, The Artist, and it was stained and tarnished, quite faded by years of inclement weather.
But where was the nonsensical writing or art piece it was drawing my attention to?
I could find nothing. And if it had been there in previous years, then clearly, I had not noticed it.
Perhaps it was only recently placed there as an oddity unto itself, stirring curiosity, chuckling in its inanimate way saying, “Hey you! Notice me…I dare you!”
My outcome for noticing this message was both an art and an act.
The artful aspect elicited a feeling of wonderment, a sense of humour, entertainment, questioning, specialness, and curiosity.
My imagination wove a story beyond the realm of plausibility. But that was the whole point; the wonderfully artful aspect of noticing is to transport one out of the ordinary and mundane.
Finding this plaque stimulated my creative thoughts and I was pumped to launch into my day’s work. But it didn’t stop there.
My outcome went well beyond that, for this art of noticing led me to an act.
It seemed to stimulate my running…I ran farther, faster, and with greater enjoyment. When I arrived home, I was highly motivated to journal about my findings and inspired to move into my own day’s tasks with enthusiasm.
Living and thriving happen when we are in synchrony with all aspects of our daily life. It’s when they ebb and flow with one another that we truly experience light-hearted bliss and harmony.
What have you noticed this season, which will catapult you toward inspiration, or an act of generosity, forgiveness, and appreciation? Take time to Notice Your Life and all that resonates within it.
With that in mind, I invite you to complete my complimentary Personal Daily Practice form to heighten your awareness around noticing.
Vivian
“Quietly go to work on your own self-awareness. If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.”
– From Lao Tzu’s Hua Hu Ching
