Has that doorbell always been there? Today I was walking from work to the coffee shop, a two-block stretch I’ve walked many times. But somehow I had never noticed this funny antique doorbell, though it’s at eye level and there’s not much else to notice on this block.
This little surprise got me looking around and noticing a bunch of other things in more detail. Big weird drainage pipes coming out of one building; attractive masonry arches on another; lots block glass windows. Purposefully noticing your surroundings can be like a walking meditation.
If you find yourself on auto-pilot while walking in your neighborhood, or even in your home or office, here a few things you can do to see your surroundings as new again:
- Pick a color, and notice everything of that color. Choose red today, green tomorrow, blue the next day, etc.
- Pick an object in your visual field, and try to focus not on the object itself, but on the space between you and it, almost as if you can see the air.
- Pick a point in the distance. As you walk toward it, try and alternate between two perspectives: you moving toward the stationary point, vs. the point moving toward you. Does it work? Or is changing perspective in this way not possible?
- Look for the thresholds and the seams … where a wall meets the ground, where a roof meets the sky, where the curb meets the street.
If you practice seeing something common with fresh eyes, that skill can bleed into other parts of your life in useful ways.
sabbatiblog 