One of the things I find fascinating about writing is the role of simple observation. We live such hurried lives. We walk and drive around barely noticing the world around us. Many of us walk around talking on cell phones or even texting—or just lost in thought. I think a lot of us have lost the ability to observe in detail and depth.
I live in my head pretty much all the time. I can easily walk across campus hardly noticing what I’ve passed—even though the campus is gorgeous with autumn flowers this time of year. Maybe because of this, I like taking time to simply observe.
Here is an observation exercise I love doing. It involves describing common, everyday objects without looking at them—doing it from memory. I not only do this exercise myself from time to time—each time picking a different common object—but I give the exercise to my writing classes. It always gets rave reviews from my students. I like the exercise so much I included it in Writing as a Sacred Path. Here is the exercise as it appears in the book.
From Writing as a Sacred Path:
A well-known Zen story tells of a famous teacher who asked his student if he’d been practicing awareness every minute. “Yes!” the student answer enthusiastically. But when the teacher asked him if he’d placed his umbrella on the left or right side of his shoes when he entered the meditation hall, the student couldn’t answer.
Unless we have done mindfulness practice for many years, we will find it impossible to pay moment-by-moment attention to the details of everyday life. Yet striving for that kind of careful attentiveness can lead us into new modes of thinking—and is an invaluable tool for the writer.
Focused Observation
Just like the Zen student in the story, we often go through our days without noticing the things around us. How many tiems have we seen and handled pennies? Yet can you accurately remember what one looks like in detail? Very few people can. This simple exercise helps us sharpen our observational skills and shows how easy it is to overlook the objects of everyday life:
1. Describe a penny. Without looking at one, write a detailed description of both sides of a penny. Take your time. Close your eyes and visualize. Do the best you can.
2. Explore what you missed. When you have come up with the best description possible, compare it to an actual penny. Pay attention to what you missed and what you got correct. Did you see the overall pattern but miss details? Did you identify specifics but forget how they were all put together? Were there certain things that you were sure were on the coin, but were not? These patterns of remembering and forgetting can tell us much about what we pay attention to and what we do not.
3. Use other objects. Try writing descriptions of other common things without looking at them. Can you describe the pattern on your kitchen curtains, the locations and kinds of plants in front of a building you visit often? Can you describe the gas station you go to every week or the cover of a book you have had in your house for many years? Give these descriptions a try and then use the results to develop your attentiveness.
Give this exercise a try. Then leave a comment and let me know how it went.