​Lately, my middle child has been asking me to tell her stories about 'when I was little'. I've also been reading a lot of travel books so I started telling her about my travel stories and showing her pictures - like this one...

I was on a backpacking trip in the Alps with one of my friends, the first long backpacking trip I had ever taken. Before the trip I had bought a new pair of hiking shoes but they weren't broken in yet so I thought - I'll just bring my Chacos. They would take up less room in my luggage and it was the middle of summer so I wasn't too worried.

"To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe."
Marilyn vos Savant

Observation has become a lost art. We are so busy with our lives, rushing here and there, hardly resting long enough to catch our breath let alone taking time to sit and observe anything that is going on around us. But years ago this wasn't the case in our society. Why is that? What has changed between then and now and how would being more observational about your surroundings help you in your daily life? And then - how would it improve your art?