"It's things that I notice, and the things that we notice are fleeting. So it'll come up, and I'll make notes on the things that I'm noticing, and they'll work their way into the book."
The words above are from an interview (I already wrote about it yesterday) in which Rick Rubin talks about his new book. Rubin says that the book does not contain the things he knows but the things he notices. Often, when looking back at his notes, he is surprised because he didn't know that he knew it. He just glimpsed something in the moment and captured it.
This is what my morning apples are. It's a collection of the things I notice. Sometimes, I don't know why things capture my attention; I just know I must write them somewhere. Not to remember them in the future but to process them in the moment.
I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen. – John Steinbeck
However, I can't help but wonder how many things - creative and beautiful things - are happening around me without me noticing them. I know that only a tiny fraction of what my senses receive are processed by my mind. At any moment, I experience just a fragment of reality.
That's why paying attention is such a vital practice.
"Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it."
Mary Oliver