The Art of Noticing
The Quest of Life
Weekly Newsletter by Quest Taylor
Read Time: ~3 minutes
When I was younger, my dad and I used to play disc golf at a course called Cedar Rock, just outside our hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina.
We’d walk through the trees, him spotting faces in tree trunks and rabbits in clouds. He’d point out a crooked branch that looked like a dragon, or a rock with a grin.
I didn’t think much of it at the time.
But looking back, it’s one of the things I admire most about him—his ability to notice.
He wasn’t rushing. He wasn’t scrolling. He wasn’t filling the silence.
He was just… there. Fully present. Fully seeing.
I think about that a lot now.
How often do we miss the weird, beautiful, quietly magical details of everyday life?
Not because they aren’t there… but because we’re too distracted to see them.
We Rarely Slow Down Like That Anymore
These days, we fill every crack of stillness with distraction:
AirPods in during a walk
Scrolling between sets at the gym
Texting back while we eat, while we sit at a stop light, while we walk the streets of our neighborhood
And the wildest part?
We forget that the world around us is always trying to speak to us.
Not in some dramatic, spiritual way—but in the small, weird, beautiful details of ordinary life.
But we miss them. Because we’re always somewhere else.
This Long Weekend, Try This:
Take one walk without your phone.
No music. No podcast. No camera roll. Just you.
Pay attention to:
Something you’ve never noticed on your usual route
A shape in the clouds
A smell that reminds you of something
You might just find something that inspires or intrigues you.
Not everything needs to be captured.
Not every moment needs to be filled.
Some of the best ones just need to be noticed.
See you next week,
— Quest