The Art of Noticing
And why dogs are harder to draw than demons.
There’s an old Chinese folktale that we’ve been carrying with us lately.
A traveller was once drawing for the King of Ch’i.
The King asked, “What is the most difficult thing to draw?”
The traveller replied, “Dogs and horses.”
“And the easiest?”
“Devils and demons,” said the traveller.
“People see dogs and horses every day. There's no room for distortions when drawing them. Thus, they are the most difficult to draw. As for devils and demons, they have no shape and no one really knows what they look like. Thus, they are very easy to draw”
At first glance, it’s just a curious little story. But the more we sat with it, the more we saw ourselves in it.
We often chase the unfamiliar—the big, bold, unknown. The future. The fantasy.
But ask us to pay attention to the things we know well? Our own thoughts? The habits we keep? The emotions that visit us quietly and often?
Ask us to really notice the people we see every day?
Suddenly, it’s hard.
Because what is familiar asks for more honesty.
You can’t glaze over your mother’s worry, your student’s silence, or your own boredom in a conference.
You can’t ignore the patterns in your own behaviour that keeps returning like a boomerang.
To know something deeply is to be in a relationship with it. And that can be harder than dealing with the mysterious or dramatic.
Noticing is an act of care.
It’s not always easy. But it’s always real.
Try This: Familiar Five!
Grab a paper or the back of your notebook. Without overthinking, list:
One object you use every day but have never really looked at.
One sound in your routine that you usually ignore.
One person you see often but haven’t had a real conversation with in a while.
One habit you’ve picked up without realizing it.
One feeling that keeps visiting you quietly (and you keep brushing it aside).
Now, pick one from your list.
Draw it. Not well. Deeply.
Sit with it for 2 minutes. Let it tell you something new.
To seeing what we already know,
Team FUEL
P.S. What’s your ‘dog or horse’? The familiar thing that still challenges you to see it truthfully? Share in the comments below! We would love to know.
[Chinese folktale sourced from: http://www.rodneyohebsion.com/chinese-folktales.htm]