Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to find one thing that you've never
Speaker 1: noticed before. Doing this can shake up even the most
Speaker 1: routine of routines. Today's tip, like another this week, comes
Speaker 1: from Jeffrey Davis's book Tracking Wonder, which will be out
Speaker 1: this fall and is all about reconnecting with your creative self.
Speaker 1: While routines can help make good choices, automatic mindless routines
Speaker 1: can be the enemy of creativity. We aren't seeing or
Speaker 1: thinking or noticing. M Take your weekday commute. If you
Speaker 1: drive the same route to work five mornings a week
Speaker 1: and drive home the same way in reverse, it is
Speaker 1: soon possible to drive the whole commute without even thinking.
Speaker 1: You look up and you're at your office. People will
Speaker 1: speak of meaning to get off at a different train
Speaker 1: stop for a breakfast meeting, but being on autopilot and
Speaker 1: winding up in their office lobbies before they even remember
Speaker 1: that something was supposed to be different. So here is
Speaker 1: a way to jolt yourself out of the stupor aim
Speaker 1: to notice just one thing on your commute that you
Speaker 1: have never noticed before. The world is a varied place,
Speaker 1: and there are many details in it, and so you
Speaker 1: can imagine all the new things you might see if
Speaker 1: you tried. Maybe it's that a word on a sign
Speaker 1: is misspelled. Maybe it's that a house near that intersection
Speaker 1: where you wait every morning has a bright red door.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's a sign pointing out a store on the
Speaker 1: second floor of a building near your train stop. In
Speaker 1: any case, you won't know what it will be until
Speaker 1: you look. The process of looking will nudge you into
Speaker 1: a more mindful state. Today's commute will be different, and
Speaker 1: that by itself will make the day a bit more memorable. Now.
Speaker 1: I am not saying you need to do this every
Speaker 1: single day. Maybe once a week is fine, but in
Speaker 1: general it is good to re examine the things you
Speaker 1: do over and over again, or see over and over
Speaker 1: again without thinking. The home renovation project my family is
Speaker 1: doing is long and occasionally tedious, but it does have
Speaker 1: me seeing everyday objects in new ways. I hadn't really
Speaker 1: noticed the shape of the design on all the doors
Speaker 1: in my house until I was buying new doors for
Speaker 1: another house. I would have thought the hardware in my
Speaker 1: house was a different color than it turns out to
Speaker 1: be I had just never truly looked before. I now
Speaker 1: see snow guards on roofs. I had no idea what
Speaker 1: those even were before this whole process. So today, if
Speaker 1: you are commuting somewhere, aim to notice one thing you
Speaker 1: have never seen before. If you drive your kids to
Speaker 1: school or camp or activities, aim to see one new
Speaker 1: thing on the trip. Circle your block or your neighborhood,
Speaker 1: even your house. See one new site that you didn't expect.
Speaker 1: Your eyes will feel a little more open, and that
Speaker 1: is almost always a good thing. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
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Speaker 1: heart Radio app Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.