Pareidolia
Looking at the world with fresh eyes
The other day I was outside with my son and there is this climbing frame and just before he starts climbing he says, "oh, look, there are eyes here". I didn't really know what he was talking about because from my perspective looking down I just saw a green ring attached to a black pole. So I go down to his height and look the frame again. Sure enough, a pair of eyes stare straight at me.
Apparently this is called "pareidolia":
Pareidolia is the psychological phenomenon where people see familiar patterns (especially faces, animals, or objects) in random or ambiguous stimuli, such as clouds, rock formations, wood grain, or toast.
While seeing the animal here is completely obvious to me, I have heard of people that do not see it or at least have difficulties seeing it. I mean it's a snake, right?
Growing up and seeing the world with fresh eyes is something we kind of forget about as an adult. I guess this simplifies stuff. We aren't constantly in awe and wonder about random things. Our brains learn to filter out the “irrelevant” details so we can focus on more important things that are... not always that important actually.
Kids don't have those built in filters yet. To them, the world is more "alive". A knot in a tree could be a watchful owl, an oil stain on the driveway, a sleeping dragon? Seeing the world in this way is of course a lot more beautiful and moving and it's very healthy for children to embrace it. Sometimes, they are also generous enough to invite us in - if we allow it. And when we do, time slows down again and the world seems more engaging.
Does this mean I will crouch down and crawl to buy groceries next time? Maybe. Probably not though. I guess it's just important to put on those glasses of a toddler from time to time. Who knows, maybe a snake is staring back at you?
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I believe we are told what to see, and cannot so easily see with the fresh, unconditioned, eyes of children. Many writers can do it. Dickens was very very good at it for instance.
Indeed, it's essentially easy - "just" be in the moment without thought guiding you through the experience
There I see a little frog, what a special moment to let the energies of the world become special
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As adults, hanging out with children is a great way to rediscover the world with different eyes. It's a breathe of fresh air to not get fixated on the mind and how it tends to see things, as that's usually narrow, for the most part.