“I have to see a thing a thousand times before I see it once.”~ Thomas Wolfe
I used to think I was an observant person. I am a writer, after all. I am supposed to be observant. Then, a few years ago, I took an “observant” quiz. It was very similar to all those quizzes that circulate Facebook. Well…let’s just say I am not as observant as I thought. In fact, one of the questions asked where the green light was located on a traffic light. I almost answered the top before I quickly remembered it’s on the bottom.
This quote reminds me of that test. It reminds me that maybe we are not as observant as we think. Maybe we notice what we want to notice and forget what we deem unimportant. This is okay…until I start to consider this is how other people operate as well. In the book business, this is a scary thought. I have read that someone has to see an ad three times before it sticks. That is certainly less than a thousand, but still…. In a world that is increasingly noise, it is hard enough to get noticed once. Let’s hope we can all learn to be a little more observant.
