Stop, Look, and Listen (and Smell too!)
Do you remember your teachers telling you to stop, look, and listen? Well, mine did. It was a fun game and got us noticing the world.
Now that I’m older, I’ve about a billion more things to worry about than smelling roses or staring at sunsets. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when I’m tossing laundry in the washer while dressing my child and burning dinner all at the same time.
Not good.
So this summer I’ve decided to slow down and try to look at the world in new ways. Yeah, stop and smell those roses (or whatever is handy at the moment).
Ideas to get you started:
1. Compare- If you’re traveling this summer, it makes it easier to compare your neighborhood or city easier to the place that you’re visiting. For instance, as I stepped out of the airport in Hawaii last week, I noticed the air smelled a whole lot different than Seoul! It smelled like flowers. And then when we arrived in Atlanta, the air had that heavy and thick (humidity) feel to it and smelled like fresh cut grass. Or when we drove to Florida, I noticed ocean and sand.
2. Listen- My kids are some of my best inspirations for seeing the world in new ways. Like pointing out the sunset, one said, “It looks like the sky is on fire and the clouds marshmallows roasting!” And when we went to the beach, little Caleb was teasing me saying, “Those aren’t waves Mommy, that’s ice.”
3. Snapshot It- Take a moment to study a scene and jot down notes. I like to do columns with sound, smell, sight. When I was studying a pasture the other day, it looked pretty average until I noticed a fallen fence. And I realized that fence was probably older than me and I wondered about the people who set up that fence. The mood of the pasture did a complete turnaround for me.
4. Question- Be curious! (And don’t be afraid to be a little mischievous sometimes too!). Ask questions and dig deep to find the answers.
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Great ideas, Christy. One thing I’ve noticed, now that school is out for the summer and I’m spending more time on my writing, is that I’m much more appreciative of the small things that are happening around me. It’s almost as if I’m seeing the world with fresh eyes–or at least eyes that aren’t clouded over by all the things I need to do in the rush to get somewhere.