On Being Observant

 

Distractions are everywhere.  Your computer.  Your smartphone.  Your mind racing through your to-do list.

It doesn’t stop with you.  Distractions are all around you, beckoning for attention.  Advertisements.  Music.  Noise.

The more you have going on around you, the more you mind tunes everything out.  If you’re walking through a big city, you might be concentrating on not getting hit by a taxi cab while crossing the street.  You tune everything else out.  You don’t notice three pigeons eating half a sandwich on the sidewalk.  You don’t discern the sound of high heels hitting the pavement as a well-dressed woman brushes past.  You don’t smell the chicken kabobs on rice with a side of chickpeas at the nearby food cart.

You can become more observant by dialing down the distractions around you.  Dial down the distractions you bring.  Dial down the distractions in your head.

And you will notice things you never sensed before.