Finding Beauty in the Details

What it's about

How looking a little closer to examine the details of design work, in life and nature, can bring new joy into our lives

Stopping to take a closer look at some vibrant Indian Paintbrush, hiding in the sage near Mt. Shasta, California
04. 05. 2020.
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EXPERIMENT

"Stop and smell the roses"

Maybe you've heard this before, maybe many times. Stopping to smell the roses means pausing to allow yourself the simple pleasure of awareness, reflection, observation. It means allowing yourself to pause and examine the often small, simple pleasures. Like the smell of roses, or anything else.

The same can be said of work. If we don't let ourselves stop to appreciate what we've done, we'll quickly move on to the next thing without actually seeing what we've accomplished, in detail. Sometimes the speed of life can be so overwhelming, this can seem almost impossible to do.

But next time your out for a walk, maybe try noticing the things you might not usually notice: a flower growing in the gutter, a lizard perched on a rock, the blossoms hanging down from a nearby tree, the smell of sage after the rain, the way the light hits something that makes you see it in a totally different way.

These slight shifts in perception can be totally life altering and require daily, lifetime practice! Anxiety about work, life, and all the things on your to-do list can feel like a huge barrier to entry.

But just taking that small amount of time to slow down, appreciate and stand in awe of nature is a challenge worth accepting. It's something I'm practicing in my daily life to stay connected to the environment, and hope that it might help others too.