On Watching the World Go By

I’ve noticed that all of my favorite creative people have one big thing in common: they pay attention to the world around them. They notice the little things that can bring a piece of art to life. The nuances that turn a character into a person you feel like you know. The small details that turn a simple painting into a portal to another place. The tiny moments that can take turn a photograph into a memory made physical. So how do you go from floating through the world to really paying attention to it? My favorite way is just watching it go by. 

We spend a lot of time inside and we spend a lot of time looking at screens (and I’m not complaining, I love screens and without them I’d have to find a new career to chase). Watching the world go by is a wonderful break from that and an excuse to just relax and take it all in!

I love staring out windows. Right now, I’m sitting at my kitchen table (which is also my dining room table, my office, my storage area…it’s a very small apartment) and staring out the window. The view looks out between some buildings, over a narrow sliver of street, past the 101 freeway and towards downtown. There’s constant motion and an everchanging cast of characters. I love staring out this window. Depending on the time of day I can see the crawl of traffic, often times backed up by a nearby accident (one time I was able to watch an entire scene unfold where a teenager crashed his dad’s $150,000 BMW, hurting no one but making a lot of traffic and a LOT of drama, from start to finish…better than an episode of reality tv by far). I can see parents shepherding kids on bikes and scooters away from parked cars and pedestrians. At night, I’ll see people stepping outside of their apartments to sneak a smoke. If I’m lucky I’ll see someone coming from or going to a date (you can always tell when they’re excited, or when it’s gone well because they just have little extra pep in their step). 

During a year (God, now over a year…) when it’s been easy to feel isolated and in our own bubbles it’s been wonderful to be able to stare out the window and be reminded that life goes on, that people are still out there finding love, and that traffic is still annoying. It’s just nice to be reminded that even though things have never been more different or difficult. There’s still the same world out there, the bad parts yes, but also the good parts. The little things that make you happy, the little discoveries that feel like magic, and the little wonders that make it all feel new.