Back to the interesting lines before the introduction, just like in my last post where Tim Cresswell dedicates the book to Yi-Fu Tuan in the introduction page John Mason writes “I cannot change others; I can work at changing myself”. I thought this was definitely an interesting inclusion and only reading the first chapter I will not have the full picture but it seems that there is an emphasis on professional development in the Noticing chapter. By noticing our actions and being more sensitive to our surrounding is a way to help shape change in perception and behaviour. Is this what he is referring to? He hasn’t directly addresses the phrase yet in the book.

Anyways to the reading.

Mason describes three levels of noticing – there is ordinary noticing or perceiving, marking and recording. Ordinary noticing is when you can only remember the information through cues by other people such as them mentioning it, allowing that to trigger the memory. Marking is when you not only notice but you are able to initiate mention of what you have noticed to someone later. You are able to start a conversation with someone about the cat you saw perched on top of a man’s shoulders at school. (That is a real story that someone told me once or remarked). And finally recording is when you make a brief but vivid note of something that you noticed and it allows you to access it at a later time.

I like how he ended the chapter with the phrase “The essence of noticing is being awake to situations, being mindful rather than mindless.”