Living beings were endowed with senses that allow us to perceive the world and its forms, these senses are an important part of our survival on the planet. People, unlike other species, have the opportunity to use our senses together with thought, reason and intuition, this together give us opportunities that go beyond a simple perceive or feel, this perfect union helps us to understand, analyze and create spaces of intimate relationship with everything around us. Of the senses, sight is one of the most valued for many, although to say that it is valued is perhaps a conception that not everyone understands.

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Sight is constituted by our visual organs, the eyes, but it needs the relationships between neural connections and the forms, concepts and definitions that we have culturally inherited from our environment. Talking about the sense of sight is a broad task, so today I will only stop to tell you a little about the difference between two fundamental aspects that not all of us manage to associate and differentiate at the same time.

Observing and looking are two different things, although both are intertwined by the sense of sight, both are also differentiated by perception and the use of our understanding, thinking, our emotions and even our rational being. Sometimes we look and observe at the same time, sometimes we only look and very seldom or very few observe. But what distinguishes one from the other? Where is the difference and especially why is it so important to know that difference?

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If we stop in the conceptual aspect, to look is to pass the sight through an object, it is to know that something exists and sometimes to recognize some details that, as people say, jump to the sight. Looking is sometimes a reflex act, a mechanical process of which you know little and is extremely complex, however, looking is nothing more than the action of our visual organs that according to the disposition of nature allow us to access the forms of the world. But, to observe, that is a subject that goes much further. I would dare to assure that not all of us observe, that we rarely stop in that magical instant where everything appears in front of our eyes, in front of our existence.

To observe is to go beyond simply detecting that there is something that is in front of us. To observe is to stop for a moment to detail, to savor and to feel what you are observing. It is to go deeper, looking away from the appearance and searching for the essence of what has caught our attention. To observe is to retain in our memory delicate details that make great moments. To observe is to give importance and value to that which has motivated my eyes to stop for a few minutes. To observe is to appreciate.

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Human beings let many things pass us by because we do not take those brief moments to observe with attention. This act of observing brings us many benefits among them:

It avoids getting the wrong idea about people and situations. Observation is a strategy that helps us to discern and go beyond appearances.

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It can save our lives. Carefully observing what is happening around us, especially in times of crisis, can save our lives. Never allow your vision to become clouded, take a few seconds to clear the clouds and focus on deepening what is happening around you.

Observing enriches our existence. By observing we learn from our surroundings, we appreciate and detail everything, we even manage to generate empathy because we learn from what affects others.

Therefore, my dear friends, the best thing you can do is to observe, do not let a single moment of your life pass without making every moment a good memory in your memory.