HOLIDAY AT THE SEA: Creating mental photo albums

We are in a constant state of absorption. Constantly taking things in through each of our senses. This is done for the most part subconsciously and without much apparent consequence. My challenge to you is to train yourself to pay closer attention. To learn to let particular things take a more significant presence in your consciousness. An easy way to start is by asking, "Why does this matter?"

But why should I care?

Living this intentionally is an invaluable aspect of my creative process. The more I can learn about, experience, internalize, the easier it is to solve a particular problem or create a work of art or writing a piece of music. One way to describe it is through the anatomy of nocturnal animals. Their eyes are larger in ratio to their size than animals that operate primarily during the day. This is the way I think about myself, as if my mind's eye is slightly larger to allow more in. But enough about me, what does this mean to you?

The principle is pretty universal. If you distill it down, what I'm talking about is simply a way to get more out of your own experiences and applying it to create deeper understanding of future experiences.

Try thinking about it like this.

When you go on vacation, you tend to take pictures of the places, the people, the experiences. These pictures get catalogued and put away so that when we come back to them it's easier to recall the memories, feelings, and emotions of the moments.

Now, what if you were able to take photographs (physical or mental) of your whole life? Being able to catalogue experiences in mental photo albums and recall them as needed. Sounds exhausting, right? It can be at first, but after some practice I've found that I can collect the important parts quickly, catalogue them, and recall them later when I am presented with a certain challenge. Again, we do this naturally, I'm just challenging you to do so intentionally.

Por ejemplo:

I recently had a conversation with a furniture craftsman about how he has begun an apprenticeship with a pipe organ maker. The way he spoke about the process of crafting this massive instrument was beautiful. How techniques applied to crafting a pipe organ were unlike anything he'd encountered in furniture. But while he was ultimately worried about the literal profitability of such a craft, I tried to show him how such training could only positively influence his own design and fabrication process. How would knowing how to build a pipe organ influence the way he built a chest of drawers? How beautiful would his next knife box be when it is crafted with the same precision as the sacredly iconic instrument?

So I ask you:

What are you taking pictures of?

What are you studying?

What are you listening to?

What are you looking at?

What are you watching?

What advice are you taking?

What advice are you rejecting?

What souvenirs are you keeping?

What are you making time for?

This isn't stopping to smell the roses. This is deciding to let things influence you.