The first and often overlooked step to creating awareness is paying attention, stopping to notice what is happening right now in front of you, around you, and within you. Due to our natural preoccupation with things that have already happened and for fantasizing about what might happen in the future, you can go for long periods of time without noticing what is right in front of you or that you haven’t been present for quite some time.
Reminding yourself to stop and notice where you are—both physically and mentally—as often as you can during the day will help train you to pay attention to the subtleties and nuances that can make even the most mundane experiences interesting. Can you stop for a moment, right now, and hear the noises that are surrounding you? See the colors around you? Notice what you are thinking and feeling? Or see the people in your life a little bit differently.
There are some small ways that paying attention can change the way you see things. Taking a few minutes each day to notice a couple new qualities of those elements of life closest to you can help you pay attention to them in a different way. Is there something about them you have never noticed before? Do they do something you particularly appreciate? By paying attention to these nuances and changes, you can continue to make anew both your relationships and the way you see the other people.
We also know that taking the time to notice what is happening in the moment brings your mind’s attention to what you are focusing on. And where you place your attention impacts your brain and you. According to psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson, “Whatever you hold in attention has a special power to change your brain. Attention is like a combination spotlight and vacuum cleaner: it illuminates what it rests upon and then sucks it into your brain—and yourself.”
So stop and pay attention. Catch yourself when you are drifting away from the moment, task, person, or detail at hand, and see if you can find something novel to hold your awareness, something that sparks creativity or just allows you to appreciate what is in this moment.
