We had a few days out in the country at Shabo-Mekaw, where I was able to take some time to do nothing. Or, more precisely, I may have appeared to be doing nothing, but I wasn't- I was noticing. I had to think awhile to figure out what to call it... I was walking, yes, but not all the time; sometimes I sat down, or just stood in one spot for a while. At the same time, I may have been thinking- or not. Intermittently, I took photos as well. Well, so what? It's not really an astounding feat of multi-tasking genius, is it? Hardly.
What I was really doing is looking at things. Observing- closely, and carefully. Noticing. That's not so unusual, either... it's just that sometimes I notice things most people don't seem to think are worth noticing. For instance, I can be perfectly absorbed and enthralled for hours just roaming around the island, looking at rocks (or plants, or sticks...). One thing I noticed on Friday is that the patterns of spots and dots on many of them are quite beautiful, reminding me of abstract paintings.
The response of many people, if I say, "Look at the spots and dots on those rocks!" is either to pay no attention while saying something like, "Uh-huh", or to smile politely while thinking that my head is full of rocks, or both.
I'm sure these experiences sound familiar to some of you, and I would guess that this kind of noticing is part of what makes someone tend to become a visual artist.
I don't see it as a problem that most people wouldn't have noticed that the rock and the leaf are color-coordinated...
...or that the spots on this rock, when viewed very close up...
...are actually little funny-shaped crystals.
And while I was pondering all this, I noticed something else. It occurred to me that my favorite things to do as a child- exploring and noticing nature, and making things- are exactly the same as what I most love to do now. The essence of me, my most authentic and basic self, hasn't changed. What I noticed, I guess, is that I've never grown up! And I believe that's probably a very good thing.
What about you? What did you most love to do as a child- and are you doing that now?
What I was really doing is looking at things. Observing- closely, and carefully. Noticing. That's not so unusual, either... it's just that sometimes I notice things most people don't seem to think are worth noticing. For instance, I can be perfectly absorbed and enthralled for hours just roaming around the island, looking at rocks (or plants, or sticks...). One thing I noticed on Friday is that the patterns of spots and dots on many of them are quite beautiful, reminding me of abstract paintings.
The response of many people, if I say, "Look at the spots and dots on those rocks!" is either to pay no attention while saying something like, "Uh-huh", or to smile politely while thinking that my head is full of rocks, or both.
I'm sure these experiences sound familiar to some of you, and I would guess that this kind of noticing is part of what makes someone tend to become a visual artist.
I don't see it as a problem that most people wouldn't have noticed that the rock and the leaf are color-coordinated...
...or that the spots on this rock, when viewed very close up...
...are actually little funny-shaped crystals.
And while I was pondering all this, I noticed something else. It occurred to me that my favorite things to do as a child- exploring and noticing nature, and making things- are exactly the same as what I most love to do now. The essence of me, my most authentic and basic self, hasn't changed. What I noticed, I guess, is that I've never grown up! And I believe that's probably a very good thing.
What about you? What did you most love to do as a child- and are you doing that now?
