The Art of Noticing: Reclaiming Wonder in the Smallest Daily Moments

Every once in a while, a single line from a book rearranges something inside you.

For me, it happened when I came across a description of Danish author Solvej Balle’s experimental opus, which said that her work “reframes the tedium of contemporary life as a source of unexpected wonders.”

I stopped. Reread it. And felt that little internal click that happens when a truth lands exactly where it needs to.

It immediately brought to mind a dear friend I’ve known since college, someone who has always carried a quiet, steady presence, even at nineteen. While the rest of us rushed from dorm rooms to classes to social plans, she moved through the world with a sense of appreciation. Not performatively. Not in pursuit of productivity. Just… present.

I remember how she would cut vegetables with an unrushed rhythm, how she arranged tiny, everyday things, flowers in a jar, a stack of books, the tomatoes on her taco, with a sort of peaceful attentiveness. It wasn’t perfectionism. It was a way of inhabiting her own life.

Back then, my pace was faster. More urgency, more anxiety, more living several steps ahead of wherever I physically was. Watching her didn’t make me slow down, but it did make me wonder what it might feel like to live that way.

It’s only now, after years of supporting clients through life transitions, divorce recovery, identity shifts, and rebuilding, that I understand the power in what she modeled.

Noticing as a Path Back to Ourselves

Most of us don’t struggle because our lives are too small. We struggle because we’re stretched thin between anticipation and memory, planning ahead, bracing for what’s next, scanning for what could go wrong, or replaying something from earlier in the day. Our nervous systems learn to live in the future or the past, rarely in the moment we’re actually in.

Noticing is one way back. Noticing is not a spiritual performance. It isn’t a curated morning ritual or a pressure to “be present” in moments that actually feel messy.

Noticing is a micro-shift:

A brief return to your senses.

A small gesture of grounding.

A way of saying, I’m here. Even for a second, I’m here.

This practice becomes especially powerful during major life transitions, divorce, dating again, career change, grief, identity shifts, when your mind is often racing but your body is craving steadiness.

Why the Smallest Details Matter

When life feels overwhelming, people often try to think their way into calmness, which rarely works. The nervous system responds not to logic, but to cues of safety and orientation.

Noticing provides those cues.

• The sound of chopping herbs anchors you.

• The feeling of warm water while washing a mug slows your breath.

• The way late afternoon light hits your living room reminds you you’re still living your life, even in the midst of uncertainty.

• Organizing a drawer by texture or color gives your mind a simple, achievable task.

• Seeing the way steam rises from a cup of tea pulls you out of spiraling thoughts and into your senses.

These are tiny choices with disproportionate impact.

And when everything feels like too much or too unknown, tiny choices are exactly where power lives.

Noticing Is A Softening

This practice doesn’t remove stress, grief, or complexity. It doesn’t offer a shortcut through hard transitions. But it does soften the edges. It helps you shift from high alert into something closer to spaciousness.

When I work with clients navigating divorce or rebuilding their identity, they often describe a sense of being scattered or disoriented. The future feels far away and the present feels unstable. And yet, when we introduce simple noticing practices, paying attention to a sound, a color, a sensation, something begins to reorganize internally. A little more calm, clarity, and room to breathe.

Everyday Wonder Isn’t Accidental

The beauty is that wonder is not something you have to chase. It’s something you learn to notice.

You can begin anywhere:

• Notice the way your feet feel against the floor when you first wake up.

• Notice the scent of the soap you use every morning (we so rarely pay attention to things we touch every day).

• Notice the pattern your breath settles into when you pause.

• Notice the glance of color in a room, even if the room is cluttered.

• Notice one small thing that is working, even when many things feel uncertain.

These tiny moments accumulate. They create a quiet scaffolding for resilience. They teach us we can be with the full spectrum of our life, joyful, boring, complicated, painful, and still find pockets of grounding.

The Art of Noticing as a Form of Self-Leadership

When a client tells me they feel stuck, anxious, or overwhelmed, I don’t start with major strategies. I start with noticing.

Because the ability to notice, not judge, not fix, just notice, is the foundation for every other kind of growth:

• Emotional regulation

• Boundaries

• Decision-making

• Relationship clarity

• Dating with intention

• Rebuilding after divorce

• Trusting yourself again

Noticing teaches you to hear yourself more clearly and hearing yourself clearly is what allows you to choose, act, and move forward with intention.

A Reflection for You

Take a moment today, just one,and ask:

What is one small detail in my environment, my body, or my day that I can pay attention to right now? And what shifts in me when I do?

Don’t force meaning. Just observe.

This is how wonder returns, not through dramatic transformation, but by letting tiny moments become visible again.