Active Aging
For so many of us, using our powers of observation and noticing is a necessity, not a luxury.
We take special care to observe and minimize distractions while we drive so we don’t injure ourselves or others. We make sure we notice our children’s physical and emotional conditions so we can tend to hurt bodies or feelings. We observe our own bodies’ cues so we know when to eat or drink and can continue fueling ourselves.
During much of our lives, being observant simply helps keep ourselves and our families safe and healthy. But what if you could add to the quality of your life — your sense of enjoyment, your ability to read situations, and even your connections with others — by practicing observation? What if your senior years aren’t a time to let your awareness and understanding skills decline, but to be intentional about improving your attention to detail?
What Are Observation Skills, and Why Do I Need Them?
You may think of “being observant” as simply seeing things others can’t. But observation is about far more than just taking in information and stimuli. It’s about putting them to use.
Being observant is an active skill practiced through intentional watching and listening, detailed noticing and remembering, active training to recognize patterns, and staying emotionally and situationally aware. Building observational skills helps you notice patterns and anticipate issues, draw inferences from body language and emotions, and catch errors with attention to detail.
This may sound clinical, but it’s deeply human. When you actively listen to another person while watching their body language and listening to their tone, you can understand the emotional and mental place they’re speaking from and respond more intelligently. When you can slow down to notice the smells in the air, the colors in the scenery, the music in the background, or the flavors in your meal, you can actually enjoy yourself instead of just going through the motions.
Regaining Observation Skills
As we age, we can forget how to use our observational powers for simple pleasures. In fact, our alertness and response time to incoming information may lessen as we get older.
But as life slows down in our golden years, we have the perfect opportunity to refocus our minds by retraining our powers of observation and noticing. Here are some simple habits you could start incorporating into your weekly routine if you want to become a more observant, intentional person:
- Go on a color walk. Assign yourself a specific color to look out for, then stop and make a note (or take a picture!) every time you see that color on your route. If you’re looking for the color purple on a walk through your neighborhood, you might look for flowers or berries, iridescent bugs, or birds. You can participate at the mall, the grocery store, the local nature trail, and more.
- Notice at mealtime. Dedicate one meal of the day to observation. Take a second to pause after your first few bites of food. What flavors are most distinct in the dish? What textures stand out? If you didn’t make the dish, can you use your senses of taste and smell to decipher which seasonings and aromatics the chef may have used? Bonus points if you keep your meal phone- and media-free and simply focus on the food (and maybe the company, too).
- Practice at a local art museum. Try one of these noticing-and-describing exercises alone or with friends at an art gallery or museum to hone your powers of observation and interpretation.
- Have a curious conversation. Pick one conversation a week in which to go deeper, ask more questions, and actively listen to the answers. Ask your conversation partner why they think that way, what taught them that belief, or why that idea or hobby is interesting to them. Focus first on actually absorbing their answers and observing their tone and body language, then on forming follow-up questions and deeper inquiries based on what you’re hearing and seeing.
- Sketch and draw. Whether or not you’d call yourself “artistic,” picking up a paper and pencil can help you learn to notice. If you’d like to draw from life, pick one location each week where you’ll sketch for 15-20 minutes. Sit at a cafe, wander around a zoo or botanical garden, or plant yourself on a park bench, then work on doodling the people, animals, plants, or structures you see. If you’re not comfortable drawing a live scene, use reference pictures or set up a still life for yourself at home. Don’t focus on perfection; focus on translating what you see from the real world to the page, and on making mental notes of details that would otherwise pass you by.
Don’t let life pass you by without noticing. Start working on these habits today and improve your connection with the world and people around you.
