In order to observe our world or at least our surroundings, we need to develop a curiosity about it all. If we are only interested about what lands on our desk or in our email during the day, our view and experiences are limited to only what we know and that can be a very small space. I have friends that travel a lot. They love meeting new
people and seeing how other cultures live. Their world view is much bigger and their hearts and minds are noticeably expansive in that they are more excepting and aware and able to go with the flow when their surroundings change. I like this about them and it also challenges me. Peggy Lee sang a song in 1969 called “Is That All There Is?” It is a song about experiences and wondering after one experience is over, is that all there is? 
There is a reference of feeling like something is missing and wondering if there is anything more to this thing called life. Yes!!! There is something more. There is always something more. But we need to be curious and look for it or choose to step out on a whim and try something new and stretch ourselves.
If we don’t know what is next or what we want to do with ourselves, do something. Follow an urge. Engage with a person at work you have not talked with before. Ask to be on a new project. Try something new after work 
like cooking classes, painting, or planting vegetables. Observe what comes to your mind as you ask “what would I like to try?” Listen for the clues that lead you to that answer and then engage yourself. Continue to observe the clues. More will show up as you are being led by your curiosity… which is really just your intuition guiding you to your greater path.
I remember when my pencil / pen addiction began. It was in grammar school in the early 70’s. I saw that blue and white pen that had four sliding color switches around the top of the barrel; red, blue, black, and green. Four colors with a cool way of switching between them. I remember envying the kid who got one for their stocking stuffer. Regular pens with caps were bland and besides, the cap always got lost. But, I did get good at converting the tube pens with lost caps into paper wad shooters. A little puff of air and we could hit a classmate in the back of the head with a little wad of damp paper. Maybe this is why I enjoy Nerf darts to this day? But, that pen with four colors intrigued me. I loved the magic of it and the mechanical way it worked. Pentel puts out a fabulous dry
highlighter with eight multiple colors that can be switched from one to another. I have been using one of them for at least ten years for classes and person study and just last month, in my small town on the Southern Oregon Coast, I found a red and black version of the four color mechanical pen with a comfort grip! You bet I bought it! I love to write with tools that delight me. It makes the craft fun and joyful. Don’t get me wrong, I love to write, but there is a giddy joy when acquiring a new tool to scribe my thoughts and stories upon the pages of unique journals or electronic devises.
The pencil that had my attention as a child was the plastic one that had about twelve leads in them, all sharp and all encased in a little plastic housing. As one dulled, I would pull it out from the bottom, push it back into the top of the pencil which then pushed out a fresh pointed lead to write with until it became dull and short. These pencils were colorful with either flowers, animals, or shapes decorating the plastic tubes. We also had to put an eraser caps on the end of it or use a cube eraser if needed. I finally got one around the fifth grade and thought it was the coolest thing. I used it proudly. The mechanical pencil with .05 or .07 retractable leads has since replaced that plastic pencil with the little lead pods, but I am always on the prowl for a writing tool that sparks a little joy in my heart.
Observation Expressed 