Observation — The missing ingredient

I heard a line the other day that has really stuck with me. The context of where I heard it isn’t really important, but the line was:

“Sometimes you hear things and think… that’s UNBELEIVABLE” -Dave Matthews

I’m a pretty observant person. Photography has allowed me to really take notice of things around me, things that most people don’t ever see as they go about their day.

Those little moments where the light is just right, dancing across a wall in the morning. Or moments when certain colors or patterns line up in an interesting way.

But, I realized after hearing that line that I’ve become very visually observant. However, often times I’m not observing things that are said by others.

And I feel like I’m missing out.

Hearing that line the other day, as Dave Matthews launched into a story that isn’t relevant to our discussion here, lit a fire within me to try to add the next level of observation to my skill set. It made me realize that my curiosity for the world around me was a bit one sided, mostly visual, and I want to add MORE of the story telling component.

You see, if we just bother to listen, there are amazing things being said and done all around us. It’s the type of thing that, when combined with visual observation, can unlock stories we could only hope to dream up.

I want to be able to draw from a deep well of stories that all start with that feeling of…

“Sometimes you hear things and think… that’s UNBELEIVABLE”

Originally published at https://aicpod.com on March 5, 2020.