Observing

While walking my dog the other day, I heard a cardinal singing nearby. I couldn't spot it right away, so I stopped to look up in the trees to find it. The trees weren't very dense so it took less than 30 seconds to find the small, bright-red male. After spotting him, I waited again until he whistled his tune; this time I could see him move his head and open and close his beak. This allowed my thoughts to stray to the idea of observing, and the different levels of observation we come across in everyday life. On being observantWhen most people think about what it means to be observant, the idea that comes to mind is most likely to be that if you're being observant, you're paying attention to everything. When my wife tells me I need to be more observant this is where my mind goes, too. But that's not the only way to think about "observing", and I think misses the true definition. To truly observe something, you need to pay attention. When you try to notice everything, you'll end up…