“Wow, it smells wonderful,”  the woman announced to her husband as she walked in the door.

“I thought we should have some freshly made bread with our dinner.”

“It reminds me of when I was a child.  My mother would make fresh-baked bread almost every day.”

“It’s amazing how a smell can bring back those memories.”

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Your senses are always available, but sometimes seldom used.  Yes, being entrenched with the smell of freshly baked bread can generally awaken even the most dormant of senses for some.  However, other things that are a little more subtle often go unnoticed.

When we go through our days and our lives, we often learn how to “tune out” things that we believe are unimportant.  The brain learns how to ignore the “routine” to give more attention to the non-routine things that we encounter.

Take for example, your house.  Do you know what color the walls are in your bedroom?  Do you remember how the furniture is laid out?  Now, what about your work place.  Do you know the color of the walls in the entry way?  What type of flooring does it have?  Do you even know if it’s tile or carpet?

The point is, we can walk past something every day without even noticing it.  Now, what about people?  Do you know the name of that person you see every day at the coffee shop, or walk past in the hallway at work?  Do you know what clothes they were wearing the last time you saw them?

How about your family?  Do you know what color of shirt your mate was wearing this morning?  Close your eyes.  Do you know what color of shirt you are wearing?

Now, we understand that you can only “take in” so much information.  And yes, it is most efficient for the brain to recognize the “mundane” which can be ignored, so that there is room for the “important” things.  However, are you making a conscious decision on what is important and what is mundane?

Maybe today, you should flip it.  Notice what you once thought was mundane, and let your brain gloss over what it once noticed.  You might ask yourself, if you really noticed anything.   Sure, if something out of the ordinary happens, like a tree falls outside, or a glass breaks you most certainly will notice it.  But, are you really “saving” your energies for the so-called “important things?”

We might argue that the brain learns how to “tune out” nearly everything.  Even when you meet someone for the first time, there is  a tendency to “tune out” what they are saying because you are too busy attempting to assess the other person.  We attempt to categorize people so much so, that we do not even realize we are doing it.  That is usually why most people are not good with names.  It’s because they usually do not hear the person’s name in the first place.

What is important to you?   During this springtime, do you smell the blossoms of the budding trees?  Do you see the grasses penetrating the soil for the first time?   Are you noticing the sounds of lawn mowers being started in preparation for summer?

Now, you might ask, why you should care about such things.  We are not saying that you should care, but rather you might begin to notice the little “unimportant” things so that you can begin to tune your senses to be present at each moment of your day and your life.  When you begin to notice the so-called unimportant things with your senses, you will learn how to notice the people in your life.

You might begin to actually listen when your mate or child is speaking .  You might begin to notice the person before you and “see” deeply into their eyes into their soul.  You might begin to shut off your racing mind so that you can be present in this moment.

There is no need to think about the future or to lament about the past.  When you open all of your senses to the present moment, it brings you to that present moment.  It is a way for you to give your undivided attention to that present moment.  When you do that, you begin to live each moment, and to actually “see” and “feel” each and every moment in your life.

InspiraCard

Let go, and open up to the world around you.  Train your senses to recognize the things in your world that have thus far gone unnoticed. When you really “see” the world around you, you begin to live in the moment.

Written Fri, May 2, 2014, 7:32 – 7:48 AM MT