ASK three people who witnessed the same event to describe it and you’ll get three different descriptions. This is because we all have different levels of awareness. For example, some people notice details about other people and their surroundings; they notice who had their hair dyed or cut, the shapes and colors of the trees on the hills, and the smells in the air. Others others don’t seem to notice very much at all; you could sport a new haircut in their presence all day long and they wouldn’t see the difference. Still others might be more aurally perceptive — aware of changes in sound. Our perceptions are unique to us as individuals in many ways.
Currently, I would place myself as about a 7 along the spectrum of general perceptual acuity, where 1 equals “notices next to nothing” and 10 equals “notices everything.” By nature, I would be about a 4 or 5 — one of those people who don’t notice that you shaved off your mustache — and believe that I can attribute my increased perceptual powers to my journal writing practice. Why?
Journaling helps me to:
- Think about physical descriptions — how things look, feel, taste, and sound.
- Be more aware of my emotional responses as they occur.
- Think about things in new ways (looking at things from different perspectives).
- Be more curious and interested in what is going on around me.
- Listen to the tone and nature of conversations.
- Think about relationship dynamics in my personal life and notice more about others’ relationships.
- Use my imagination creatively and more often.
- Manage my feelings by paying attention to my thoughts and attitudes.
- Increase my connection with intuition.
If you need a reason to journal every day, knowing that it may enhance your powers of perception can give you some additional motivation. Use your journal writing to notice more about your surroundings.
And if you already practice journaling (or any kind of writing) on a regular basis, I invite you to think and to write about the different ways that journaling has helped improve your powers of perception.
If you’re so inclined, share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment.
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I’m definitely more perceptive thanks to daily journaling. With my journal’s help, I clear out more and more stress, negativity, inner critic stuff, etc. and become more present to myself and so too to my outside world. I notice I’m a better people reader, I pick up cues and read between the lines of what they’re saying and doing. WriteON!
I really loved your post. Especially the part where you said that journaling makes you more aware of emotional responses. I have found that no matter how perceptive that I may be, I tend to neglect to perceive how things make me feel. Growing up we are taught to hide our emotional responses from the world. Crying infants are quickly shushed and told that they are okay. Emotions are not validated. Now as an adult I find myself shushing myself and telling myself that I am okay in my relationships, at work, and even in my struggles. But that is not what I need. I do not need to be told that I am okay, I need my feelings and emotions to be validated. Writing in my journal allows me to recognize those feelings, to give them attention and to validate them. What an extrodinary gift to give ourselves. I truly appreciate all that journaling has done for me.