A Moment of Noticing: The Great Wave
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few." - Shunryu Suzuki
As we move throughout the day from one task to the next, it’s good to slow down to observe the what that is right in front of us, to notice the vivid details and the wonder in the ordinary moments.
There are three boats in this painting. People in them. And Mount Fuji is hiding in plain sight.
I’ve seen this image a hundred times but never noticed those details until I stopped and paused to look slowly at the details. I was moving past the image too fast assuming a wave was all there was to it.
The wave registers but everything else disappears.
That’s not just how we see art.
That’s how we move through our days, our meetings, our design reviews.
We glance, we categorize, assuming we know it already, and then we move on.
By being present and noticing we can show up in each moment with intentionality, curiosity, and creativity to pay attention to what we hear, see, feel, and make sense of the world around us.
This exercise is an invitation to practice something different, to notice the details
Instructions:
First Look (10 seconds)
Glance at the image. Write down everything that comes to mind immediately. Don’t filter.Slow Look (10 minutes)
Now really look. Go edge to edge, corner to corner, top to bottom, front to back.
Reflect on these questions:What else is here?
What details live outside the obvious?
What did you assume was in this image that you never actually verified?
Now think about your last meeting or design review. What were you so sure you already understood that you stopped listening?
What details did someone offer that you filed away as not important and moved past?
Train yourself to see beyond the obvious to notice everything else.
Every time we practice slowing down in this practice, we build the muscle for slowing down for a moment of noticing out there, when needed. ✊🏽
May curiosity be your guide.
Rizwan
Artwork
Title: Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)
Date: 1831
Artist: Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849)
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Love this one! Westerners tend to read paintings from left to right, but Japanese people tend to go right to left. From this perspective, the boatmen are facing the great wave, with Mt. Fuji in the background. But we tend to see it as a great wave advancing.