This week: Looking to See the Unseen Edited by: Fyn  
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People can be stunningly unobservant.~~Stephen King
She could fail to notice so much, and even when I pointed something out to her, she’d still not see what was special or interesting about it. ~~Kazuo Ishiguro
All of us are watchers – of television, of time clocks, of traffic on the freeway – but few are observers. Everyone is looking, not many are seeing. ~~Peter M. Leschak
The faculty of creating is never given to us all by itself. It always goes hand in hand with the gift of observation. ~~Igor Stravinsky
Seeing is the consequence of optics; observing is the consequence of imaginative contemplation. ~~Ian Semple
Art demands constant observation. ~~Vincent van Gogh
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There is a humongous difference between seeing and observing. Unless one is blind (and I was for a time) one sees a million things or more every day. Observing what it is we see, is another level of seeing. it is all about how we focus our attention. And ON what. I've written before about the day the sky was a perfect checkerboard. The skies about must have been perfectly calm. Contrails were staying 'together' and the squares begged for immense checkers or a knight or two. I stood outside for perhaps ten minutes, staring up at the splendid sky. No one seemed to notice it, or, if they did, simply didn't care that it was a weird and unusual phenomenon.
People see a vista spread out before them. They see the whole of it and do not see what makes it beautiful. They do not see the trees for the forest.
I mentioned earlier about being blind. Being blind means you learn to see differently. You can still hear the sounds of the world around you. You can still smell scents on the breeze that you can feel. You learn to observe in a different way. You can, for example, hear how much water you've poured into a cup so that you don't overfill it and make a mess. You learn to judge how far away a specific sound may be. You become extra observant.
Often, I would make students in my class wear a blindfold while in the classroom or outside. They would have to speak about what and how they heard things. A partner would write down what they said. They would eat pieces of fruit. Or candy. It didn't matter what. Is was in the taste, the smell, the feel. It was an excellent exercise in observing.
The usual stuff we see day in and day out become commonplace to the point we don't even see some of the stuff any more. It just is. Unless you dye your hair purple and days go by without it being noticed. You change the furniture around and it isn't until someone trips over something that was out of place that it is noticed.
As writers, we need to practice 'active seeing' and as one does, our powers of observation become honed in exciting new ways. Can you describe the taste of water to someone who has never had a drink of it? Can you describe the scent and sound of being outside after a few feet of snow fell over night? Can you express the feeling of seeing something you've never seen before? So much of writing is in the descriptions, the choice of the right words to express ourselves. Watch a baby try a new food for the first time. Their emotions fly across their faces. New. Different. Funny. Strange. Hmmm. Like or dislike.
Listen to total strangers hold a conversation. Some talk in a shorthand version. Others expound for paragraphs. Still others use swear words as commas. All are different ways of communicating. Strangers to each other tend to talk differently, for example, than a couple who've been together for forty years. Teens talk very differently than those twenty years older. How they react in various scenarios is different too. Some stay calm, some panic. Some are stoic, other grow angry and all at the same situation. One could gather much observation from watching newsfeeds of the fires in LA or the devastation in North Carolina.
You might not need any of this information at this precise moment, but you might be able to draw from it down the road. Research is wonderful, but when you can layer on the real, writing becomes so much more alive and true. There is nothing quite like writing something that resonates. When people (readers) assume something is 'real' or 'true' because it feels that way to them, or you've nailed a response to something. A connection forms between the written piece and the reader. And isn't that what we all aim to do?
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Twinflame8  writes: For 2025, I’d like to meet new naturally compatible people. Social media and even people seem more agenda-based and contrived. I’m all for people being kinder to me, and me being kinder to them, realizing I can’t control the uncontrollable or mass populous. I have a coaching mentor idea that promotes, amplifies, and magnifies the positive. It hasn't caught on yet… I’ve lived enough life at 46 to realize I’d rather feel good than not. I wish you the best year this as well, Thank you for the thoughtful post.
GaelicQueen  recounts: Some days are busier than others, we focus too much on what we want and not enough on being thankful for help, assistance, an unexpected kindness shown, or that $50 bill slipped into my purse by Secret Santa, an unidentified family member or a stranger wanting to make someone's day with a surprise gift within a handshake. I've been on the giving side of the equation. While waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store, I watched a young woman unload her full cart. The last thing to pass over the scanner was a medium-sized birthday cake. The grocery bill was $$$. She takes funds out of her purse to pay and is $hort. She looks to remove the cake from the bill. I speak up, asking how much is the cake? I hand over the $$ difference. The woman is about to cry, thanking me for my kindness. I tell her to pass the kindness on to the next person she finds in need.
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For Authors: January 29, 2025 Issue [#12958]
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