Category: EDCI 336 (Page 2 of 2)

Question for this week: How does noticing other people affect me?

We have all heard the expression, put yourself into someone else’s shoes, but do you ever find yourself realizing how many shoes there are around you? I know it sounds kinda silly, doesn’t it? However, I often find myself realizing that there are so many people all around us, each doing their own thing, living their own lives. There is a word for this: it is called sonder. The dictionary definition of this is “the feeling one has on realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and real as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles.” I found myself observing people as I went about my week, and as I am a university student, a lot of my observations were made around other university students. When I ride the bus, there are tons of people, and I mean tons of people; sometimes, there is barely any standing room. However, it is always interesting to notice the little things. Some students who look stressed and are working on last-minute assignments as they board the bus, while others who look so carefree are listening to their favourite songs. I often find myself wondering what their lives are like, what plans do they have to seize the day; is today just like any other day, or did something big happen today? Who is missing someone, who is ecstatic as they’ve landed a dream job? 

This little exercise of noticing isn’t just something that I do and then forget about. I believe it leads me into a more compassionate lifestyle. I think the more I think and notice others, maybe it’s just that little extra bit of humanity we can give back to the world. I think what I have noticed in my life is that our world is quite individualistic. Oftentimes, I even find myself turning on my phone when I am waiting for something or someone, so that I don’t look out of place, or maybe I turn on my headphones to block out the noise of the world when maybe there was someone I could befriend. These things aren’t inherently bad, but I wonder what they do to us if we don’t put them down and start noticing those around us. 

My theory was that if everyone started to notice those around us, whether it’s on the bus, walking downtown, at work, or through campus, maybe we would start to see that everyone deals with their own battles and victories. Maybe our compassion for one another would grow. Maybe we would start talking to strangers, build more community, and see so much value in a stranger. Just a theory, but I feel as though I can see it in my own life, and that sonder is something I will continue to ponder as I learn more about The Art of Noticing.

Photo by sidorenko on Unsplash

Definition by : SONDER Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

My question for this week : What does it mean to truly notice something and how does that impact me?

Have you ever stopped to notice how the light shimmers through the trees or how the birds sound in the morning versus in the evening? Do these things really matter, or are they just the mundane aspects of life that are found in our world? There is a concept called The Art of Noticing, first developed by Rob Walker, who wrote a book by the same name. The concept of this art format is to change the patterns or ways you view and interact with this world. There are 5 categories to The Art of Noticing: Looking, Sensing, Going places, Connecting with others, and Being alone. There are many techniques he suggests that can be used to harness this art, yet for my purposes, I would like to play around with this idea of noticing without following specific rules, for what is art without play? Will noticing the little things around me change the way I view or engage with the world? My goal for this blog is to explore the things I’ve noticed throughout the week, no matter how big or small, for the great purpose of this exploration is in the details of the everyday. 

We live in an age where business rules over lives, where we run from one place to the next, catching our breath as we go. This sense of magic over the mundane has somehow seemed to diminish as we grow up.  So, whether it’s through photographs, videos, or simply my writing, I will share with you the things I notice, the things hidden in plain sight. As I explore these things, maybe more childlike wonder will return to me, and I can once again find magic in the mundane. 

I will leave you with this little video of the wind in the tall grass that I took a little while back. It made me think of how lovely it would be to have a picnic here and watch the grass do its dance as it sways back and forth beneath the trees. I encourage you as well to go somewhere and do something that makes you pause and simply notice the world around you. 

Video Taken by Carlee Cleveland On iPhone

Website for more information on The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker

Rob Walker. Rob Walker RSS. (n.d.). https://robwalker.net/noticing/