Observe.

All that you understand on this earth, is discovered through the senses. Today I will just ask you to take note of your ability to observe. Don’t judge, just notice what is going on around you.

“Thoughtful perception is important because it will give me source material to draw with focus and integrity.”

— beth vendryes williams

Right now...

I can feel the gentle rhythm of my fingers on my laptop and smell the fragrance of the white jasmine flowering plant on my table. I hear the hum of the refrigerator. I taste the green the and that almond cookie. I am seeing the snow melting from our nor’easter and holding an image in my mind off how beautiful it looked in the middle of the night when snow was painting each branch.

Thoughtful perception is important because it will give me source material to draw with focus and integrity.

Why is it important? Picasso, Matisse, Delacroix and van Gogh were passionate about getting the essence of the gesture down on paper. They would practice gazing intently. It is essential that the act of drawing be a process of discovering communicates the veracity of what you observe with all senses. So it is not just an exercise of prowess, but a way to understand what you see more deeply. Scientists, inventors, mathematicians, writers, videographers, all continue to deepen their sense of observation.

I never read that quote before, but I recognize the sentiment because my drawing is a form of communication. In the process of creating, I use the senses of what I see, hear, feel, smell, taste and intuit.

It is essential for writers...

to immerse themselves in the language and place about which they are writing. Scientists have discovered what they do by search by looking and observing patiently to gather subtle information.

Watching, listening, touching, smelling and sensing are all ways of observing what is going on in your life. Your life is your work of art. Embrace that!

How do you improve your ability to observe?

You can increase your powers of observation...

by keeping a journal, collecting things, listening, to music, to another person or just noting the sounds and how your body feels as you walk through your day. Be present in the now moment

I choose to focus on the ordinary everyday things in my work and delve deeper to find the beauty and truth in them. Every day I see something that I never noticed before!

Choose to be the artist of your life. Be present in the now moment.

If you would like to read the book that resonates with me and holds the research, you can access it through the link below

Sparks of Genius: 13 thinking tools of creative people. by Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein. Is is linked in the reading section..

Choose to be artist of your life. Be present in the now.