I pay a lot of attention to the surface I walk on. A patient listener could hear me talk about the material, quality, incline, and irregularities of every foot I cover on my commute to the office. I’ll find myself back in a neighborhood I haven’t visited for a year to stop and say, “Oh, brand new pavement.”

This compulsion is deeply engrained from the years I spent skateboarding, obsessively, as a kid. Surfaces matter a lot for skaters. Concrete is your friend, outworn pavement slows you down but works, and a pebble can bring you to a (literal) screeching halt.

I find this quirk interesting. Back in those days, I was always looking for new places to skate. Every hill, staircase, and parking lot was a potential opportunity hiding in plain sight. To find them, I had to pay attention to minute details, most of which slip a typical pedestrian right by. Because I had an action in mind – skating – I experienced the world around me in a completely different way. A richer way, in my opinion.

I believe this phenomenon extends far beyond skateboarding. When we are in action-mode, we see details in our surroundings that we otherwise miss. The surfer becomes an expert at the weather, the marketer inspects ads in the subway with great interest, and even the infrequent cook will notice details in a meal or menu that can inspire their next attempt at home. In contrast, when we’re in consumption-mode we’re blind to these details. We see a muted, monotone version of reality while the rich nuances that make life so interesting go unnoticed. What’s great about this insight is that it’s completely up to us to change it. We can simply decide to do things and suddenly, the corner of the world that affects that thing will pop into rich technicolor.

Life passes by quickly, it’s up to us to make the most of it. By reflecting on this, I hope to push myself out of consumption-mode and into action-mode to experience as much of life as possible at the highest brightness and volume. Even something as mundane as a morning commute.

"Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster."

Theodore Roosevelt

Written against a backdrop of saying goodbye to people. Thinking of Suzanne, Peder, Vespo, and others.