The Practice of Observing

Nothing exists until or unless it is observed. An artist is making something exist by observing it. (William S. Burroughs)

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This is a challenging creative practice that requires persistence as you ‘wait for the muse’. The rewards are that it will train you to pay attention to the information you get from all your senses, and along the way you will encounter that ‘aha’ moment of creativity.

The essential part of this practice is to be completely honest and authentic in describing what you observe, and how you describe it. If you observe and describe the same thing every day, then that is OK … just keep doing this practice once a day for at least a week.

1   Choose a scene, such as a view from a window, or an object, such as a pot plant.

2  For at least seven consecutive days, at the same time of day, be still and observe the same scene or object from the same place for at least five minutes. Be open to observing with all your senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and feelings). You don’t have to observe and record ‘something’ for every sense, but rather be aware of all your senses as you observe. In doing this exercise some people will explore colour or shades, others will focus on form, some will be aware of feelings, and so on. Just go with whatever resonates most strongly with you (by the end of the week you should know what this is).

3  Be open to observing rather than analysing. When you observe, you are open to receiving information through all your senses; when you analyse, you look for meaning and strive to understand structure and processes. Practise observing rather than analysing.

4  Now spend ten to fifteen minutes describing what you see. You can do this by drawing or painting what you see, by writing what you see in a poem or piece of prose or by simply free writing, or even by singing or dancing. Don’t aim to finish a creative piece but rather spend the time just capturing what you observed.

© SD Vahl, 2012
SD Vahl hereby asserts her right to be identified as the author of this work.

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