Did you ever notice..."The Noticer"

It's been raining...

It's been a good time to think....

It's been a good time to read....

Andy Andrews' The Noticer

Have you ever noticed that it's often the little things in life, stuff we do regularly but don't really "see", that helps make our life what it is? I've been reading a book called The Noticer by Andy Andrews and it made me start thinking about things I notice and don't notice. Like this shot from the other day going through a car wash. Notice the colors? Yeah, I know, only I could find something cool about going through a car wash, huh? But once you begin to realize how easy it is to find little things to bring enjoyment, perhaps you'll begin to notice more

It's springtime in Alaska, however, and things like this are a common sight to us. It's a gray, drizzly looking day outside today. The snow is gone here and melting fast even where it still holds sway. Things that were once hidden are beginning to reappear as they're washed away by the rains and warm weather, just like the water above washed away the dirt on my car. Oh, sure, we knew most of those objects were there, but familiarity made them invisible. Now that they're back after their long winter's hibernation, we're beginning to notice things that we once "saw" every day. Things so obvious as to amaze me that we weren't seeing them before.

Andrews The Noticer demonstrates the power of not just noticing things, but what those tiny things can mean in the grand scheme of life. Look at this photo. It's the beginnings of a colorful bed of Alaska's state flower, the forget-me-not. From tiny seeds come plant shoots and from those, come flowers, one of God's most wonderous gifts to us. I've got to admit, I'm not much of a green thumb, so I haven't bothered to notice the process of growth, but I'm finding it intriguing. Even the transformation of the soil, which started in a box, gotta admit, one of those "add water" kinda things, has been interesting.

From that box and a handful of seeds, I'm noticing the steps of growth. Were the flowers a human, I'd include growth and learning and understanding, but the last two are up to me, I guess. From the tiny ball that grew on the top of the plant shoots has come this, equally tiny leaves on, oh, so fragile stems. They sway when I breath on them, a hint of their eventual dance in the wind once they make the move outside as "big kids," er, big plants. I'm noticing more than I could have ever dreamed of, gotta admit.

Outside, on the surface, it's a gray, drizzly day. Oh, I already told you that. But, look beneath the surface. Some will see only the downside, the dreary day, but I refuse to be caught by the negativity. Somewhere out there that process of growth that's going on in my house in front of my camera is going on everywhere. I snagged some lupine seeds from the side of the road at the bottom of this hill last year, so they will become a part of the learning curve as I notice how they sprout from the ground. Have you ever noticed lupine seeds? They're really cool. They form in a sorta fuzzy pod on the plant, perfect for someone like me to harvest and spread the next year, leading to growth in a new place, ie my yard, and symbolically spreading the beauty of the flowers. Flowers and seeds play a role in The Noticer, I might note, tho' I don't want to give away too much.

From those flowers and seeds, just as our actions and mindset have an impact on our lives, comes life. One of these days, fingers crossed, there will be some forget-me-nots growing under this spruce tree. I call it "Betty's Spruce" for a friend, one who has played a tremendous role in my life simply for her continued belief in me even when I doubted myself. She noticed and somehow knew just when to call, just when to send a cheery email, just when to send on reminding me to get off my butt and get busy. Andy Andrews would like my friend Betty. She's a noticer.

Once you begin to pay attention to those and all the things about you, you might even begin to notice that with the dreary, rainy days comes a beauty all its own. While I kept thinking "this is so simple, so obvious" when I read Andy Andrews' The Noticer, the fact that I began to see similarities to life as it went on about me shows the power of the book. Check it out.