Seeing: a creative’s guide to the senses

philosophical practices in nature -|- the art of trusting your senses

I usually gain insights on my walks too: like how I actually know things, what I authentically like, what energies my milieu is in, what archetypes¹ are emerging in my life, what nature has to say about world affairs, and what appears to be illuminating my way forward. I also gain perspective on my customer’s brands, ideas about their messaging, and inspiration how to choreograph my work week. Oh yeah, and what to cook for dinner.²

Today I set out a little aimless, and was arrested by a broken mushroom. I was captivated by it because its fins reminded me of when I found a hawk feather. It also reminded me of a nautilus, the shape of the Fibonnaci sequence in nature, and other amazing math patterns (like crazy-ass fractals and pine cones on their edge). The light-with-speckled dark bits struck me just like nearest-to-bird feather texture, and also looked like letters or notes on a page. All my favorite things in one broken mushroom.

and, I felt understood

So I took a photo. And then made a little ‘markup art’ to kind of sketch out how I see things to share with you. I do this in my spare time, highlighting the obvious by drawing symbols on top of things (or drawing them out of things). I could never create nature; things like this broken mushroom, but I can create near it! I see things like this mushroom as a kindly ambassador to the natural world. And I’m willing to come to the table.

Lucky inSight -|-

I’ve always been lucky in this way, with my vision. I’ve always trusted my own eyes and the connection between my eyes and me as true. That is, I know 100% when I like what I see, I know when something I see means something to me, and I trust that I see correctly. I always took this for granted, until I realized not everyone has this particular gift.³

My husband has clear hearing, I think, as does my son. They hear music better, more deeply than most. They both know what they love and can pick up instruments and work out melodies without instruction or angst. I love music, but I don’t hear like they do. My brain always gets involved with interpreting what I hear, then talking to me about liking, not liking, song titles, etc. I guess you could say, while listening to music, my analytic brain gets all up in my business (as Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote in Galápagos, “thanks a lot big brain.”)

That’s the difference between practiced vs normal sensory experience: if there’s no hiccup between perception and meaning.

Feeling, Taste, Smell & Other Stuff…

I’m guessing some folks have this gift with touch, especially body workers and healers. I’m guessing still others have this gift with smell, and others with taste. Perhaps others have it with purported senses like ‘Space Time’? Einstein maybe could hold that clarity and just “know stuff” while thinking away in the Patent office. Not sure on that one, but humans are all different and all full of gifts.

I think at the core of receiving the gift of direct perception is trust. That is, whatever you see (or hear, touch, etc.), and how it connects to you, you value 1000% exactly as it is. Your curiosity will naturally help your insight go a little deeper. Your practice will give you language to connect it to other things and maybe even talk about it without sounding *too* crazy.

I often wonder if the path of the artist is to share the artifacts of their moments of insight, and that helps us see more clearly too. They impart “sight” not just “a sight.”

You may not see this mushroom like I do, but maybe you can appreciate the seeing of it and go out in the woods and have your own moment of connection. At least I hope so. That’s the best of what art, images and literature can do, help you see better.

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Give it up now! How to develop sight in one step: the practicum.

If I were able to transmit this gift to you, I’d simply say, trust your own eyes, and acknowledge the connections inside you while in a favored environment. You don’t have to cross-check your inner understanding against experts, or even against anyone else’s perception. You can share it, or not. That’s your choice. Always.

But what you can do no matter your comfort level, is evaluate your insights against your feelings, future history, and facts. So, if you see blankets of brown pine-needles covering a path ahead, you can walk that softening, and ask yourself afterward — was it softer? You can notice what your feet tell you, the smell, the sound of your footsteps and what you contemplated while you stepped there. Maybe you’ll remember what you saw while you walked it. Maybe you’ll remember what you thought.

And, later on, you can maybe make an abstract little meta-collage called “Screenshot of a gallery I will never show you, instead inserted as a single image for sake of digital integrity.”

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1. Archetypes are patterns that repeat in our collective unconscious and were deeply explored and explained by Carl Jung. Archetypal patterns tend to be at the core of most great art, myth-like movies, and literature. They are kind of important to me. Post here, and here, and here. ↩︎
2. A girl’s gotta eat, and an Italian girl thinks about this often. ↩︎
3. I’m going to boldly call this “gift” “clear vision” for lack of better terms. I may also occasionally use the term “direct sight” to express this kind of extra helpful sensory experience. ↩︎