The Art of Noticing

“Sonder” noun.
The sudden realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own -populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness – an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window.

These are the words of John Koenig, he wrote in his book “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows” in which he offers a new vision of the world where he sheds light on the acknowledgment that every person we cross paths with has a life of their own, as profound as ours, rich in personal habits, rituals and worries. That is what John Koenig describe as “Sonder”. A word I cherish, which has become my motto ever since.

There is something fascinating about “Sonder“, in a fast-paced individualistic society, we often forget to take a closer look at our surroundings to notice the amount of life we encounter each passing day. We Omit to recall the true nature of connections and humanity.

I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen – John Steinbeck

Life doesn’t stop when you go to sleep, neither does it cease to exist when you die. There was life before you and there will be life after you. Life is everywhere, at each places, at any moment, existing simultaneously and often goes unnoticed. Its unpredictability makes it your choice to notice it.
The odds of you being you are unimaginably low, it makes you incomparably unique.

Have you ever looked back at pictures and noticed strangers captured in your moment? Wondered where they were heading that day, who they were meeting, what their plans were? I did, I chose to notice.

By noticing, I realized a few things.
Life is temporary, you’re a passage in time, moving clockwise, just like everybody else.

Your decisions are yours alone.

Each path is different, everyone has a story to tell, a moment in time that is personal. It can be a conversation at a Café between colleagues, taking the metro, walking on the street or listening to music. Different places at the same time, so different yet so connected.

The desire to exist, to leave a footprint, a trace of humanity. But also to give perspective, by sharing your own story.

Going to Art Galleries has become my new favorite activity in Stockholm. Not only are you seeing wonderful and personal pieces of work, but you also have the chance to talk with their creators. At Galleri Bellman, I was met with incredible life stories. These moments help me realize that each second is lived differently by billions of people across the world, and that your story is only one among an infinite number of them.

Slowing down, observing, paying more attention to passersby. By attending to ordinary details, you begin to notice and recognize the complexity of other people’s lives.