Not everybody gets value from the same room.

There is a pandemic going on around creatives… and if care is not taken, it’s going to continue.

And I don’t mean sickness or anything physical.

I mean attention loss.

We are slowly losing the ability to actually observe, listen, and sit with what is happening in front of us.

I’ve had the opportunity to attend a few events recently. Some online, some physical.

But for this, I’m talking specifically about physical events.

And I noticed something.

The room is always full.

People show up.

People are present.

But not everyone is actually there.

Some people are on their phones from beginning to end.

Some are talking through most of it, catching up with friends, laughing, scrolling, moving from one group to another.

Some are physically seated but mentally somewhere else entirely.

And then there are a few people who are just… observing.

Not in a weird way.

Not in a detached way.

Just paying attention.

Watching how things unfold.

Listening properly.

Not rushing to speak.

Not rushing to post.

Just taking it all in.

And it made me pause…..

Because as creatives, we underestimate how powerful observation actually is.

We think value only comes from what we say, what we post, what we create.

But a lot of value also comes from what we notice.

The way a speaker communicates.

The way people respond to ideas.

The questions people are too shy to ask.

The conversations happening quietly at the back of the room.

Even the things nobody is talking about.

Observation is a skill.

And like every skill, it can be ignored or developed.

The problem is, many of us are attending rooms but not learning from them.

We leave events the same way we entered them, except for pictures and maybe a few clips.

But the people who grow faster are not always the loudest in the room.

They are often the ones paying attention.

And I think that’s something we need to start taking seriously again.

Because if you are always talking, always scrolling, always distracted… you miss what the room is trying to teach you.

So maybe the next time you find yourself in a conference, a workshop, or any physical event…

Slow down a bit.

Look around.

Listen more than you speak.

Pay attention to people.

Pay attention to patterns.

Pay attention to what is not being said.

Because sometimes, the biggest lessons are not announced.

They are observed.

And as creatives, that might just be one of the most important skills we are slowly losing.

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Wishing you a productive week, dear subscribers.

Let's win this week!