Do You Notice the Little Things?

I had always assumed that most people notice the same things I do. I mean, how do you miss a gorgeous sunset or a mama bird feeding her baby on the deck? But I had an exchange with my husband last night that made me realize we really do all see things in different ways (or in some cases, we miss them completely).

Yesterday evening, Theo had a swim lesson. Since Steve met us there on his way home from work, we had two cars and had to drive home separately. Theo rode with me and as we were driving down a very open stretch of road I noticed the most gorgeous sky. There were quite a few thick, puffy clouds and the sun was peeking through some of them. The rays from the sun were shining down onto the Earth and they seemed to be doing that in both directions as far as the eye could see. It was one of those “Darn it, I wish I had the camera!” moments (the photo above is one I took a couple years ago). I pointed it out to Theo and he was in awe of how beautiful it was (he loves stuff like that). He and I kept glancing over to admire the scene and shortly before we got home, I decided to call Steve on his cell phone and ask him if he’d seen it (all the while thinking that of course he had…how could you miss that??) His response? “No, I didn’t notice”, followed by “Oh yeah, I see it now.” Huh.

Now before you think my husband is just an oblivious person, I have to clarify that it couldn’t be further from the truth. Steve is a mechanical engineer and his job depends on his attention to detail. Measurements must be exact on every part his company produces. He once brought home a tool he uses frequently at work so he could show the kids how it could measure the thickness of a strand of hair on their head! Yep, that precise. He does all kinds of carpentry projects around the house and gets disappointed about some tiny flaw that no one could possibly notice but him. He does indeed notice little things, but they are often things I can’t be bothered to even think about at all.

What do I notice? The beginnings of a gorgeous sunset, a bee on a flower, dewdrops on a leaf, a mama robin feeding her baby a worm in the backyard, the way the sun shines through the trees, the moon when it’s still visible in the sky in the daylight, the dizzying display of color at the farmer’s market. I consider every one of those things a reminder of the beauty of our amazing planet.

The things I see in nature strike a chord with me and make me feel happy and peaceful. Naturally, I want everyone to see and experience that and when I realized that not everyone does (and frankly, not everyone even wants to) I had to stop and think about that for a moment. Each of us notices the things that matter most to us. I imagine that also means that some people are most interested in what other people look like or how they accessorize an outfit while others notice unique architecture or every car that passes by. The world would be a boring place if we all noticed the same things and had the same interests, right?

I guess it’s the reason I love photography so much. I love capturing a special moment or something beautiful I discover in the world around me and then sharing those images with others so that just for a brief moment, they can see what I saw and hopefully appreciate it in their own way. I know I’ve learned a great deal about the world by looking at images captured by other photographers and in some ways I think it’s helped me to notice things that I myself might have missed if I’d been in the same place at the same time.

What kinds of things do you find yourself noticing most often? What new things could you focus on this week that you might otherwise miss? There’s a great big world of things to see out there and I, for one, want to see as many as I can.

Want to take a look at some of the things I’ve seen recently? Check out my photoblog.