I love noticing
things, it makes me zing. I feel flat and empty when
I haven’t ‘noticed’ something for
a while. Noticing is gloriously childlike, the mindset
to be open to discovery, fresh things and fortification.
However, it is not exciting to be vigilant, and noticing
too much can become stifling. Being vigilant is a heavy
task, when noticing should be light and happy.
Noticing for me, is predominantly
visual, I forget it exists within all the senses. Mine
is to do with investing objects with mysticism, and
I also anthropomorphise things way too much for my age.
I do my best objective noticing when I charity shop.
Several actions are taking place; scanning, assessment
of worth and weight (monetary and historically) and
gut instinct. Adeptly looking, I scan for colours, materials,
shapes and manufacturers. These one-off, found archetypes
are very rewarding. By letting your observing eye free,
it ventures forth and brings you these rewards of little
bits of truth.
I
sometimes feel bogged down by noticing things
too much. The eyelets on my on shoes are
about 4mm out of line. I have a long bit
of hair just behind my left ear. This vigilance
becomes a burden, and being a bit ignorant
would indeed feel a bit blissful. I secretly
note these details, consoling myself that
I have noticed.
I
like creating outfits that appear as drawings
of colour schemes and shapes. I almost don’t
care if other people notice this ‘wholeness’,
my personal gratification is more than enough.
But a danger lurks: if I wore my favourite outfits
everyday, how long would they stay my favourites?
Recently I have started to worry about the outcomes
of noticing. What is the worth in a great holiday
if I haven’t got any photos? Am I wasting
time if I have a day out at the beach and get
a cream tea and there’s no ‘documentation’,
or is the experience enough? Can noticing be processed
into a meaningful outcome? Should it have to?
I don’t know the answer, but I do know I
like cream teas in the sunshine. Perhaps even
writing this paragraph was enough to validate
my trip to the beach. We can’t relay our
every experience; I don’t remember every
word when I read a novel, I don’t copy things
exactly as they exist in real life when I’m
drawing. You have to work out how much to notice,
or how much to edit from your noticing. Most importantly,
keep your outlook wide and your eyes open, and
discover what truly makes you zing.
