Look Watch or See

Before you even try to read my next post, please study this one carefully. Put the message in your [mental] pocket. To take it out once in a while to play with it. So you will get to understand and know it. 

 

I used http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/ to compare three verbs that are not as much alike as they seem at first glance.

to look                            underscores were placed by JoAnne Lakefield

1 often foll by: at to direct the eyes (towards) to look at the sea

2 often foll by: at to direct one's attention (towards) let's look at the circumstances

3 often foll by: to to turn one's interests or expectations (towards) to look to the future

4 copula to give the impression of being by appearance to the eye or mind; seem that looks interesting

5 to face in a particular direction the house looks north

6 to expect, hope, or plan (to do something) I look to hear from you soon, he's looking to get rich

7 foll by: for a to search or seek I looked for you everywhere

b to cherish the expectation (of); hope (for) I look for success

8 foll by: to a to be mindful (of) to look to the promise one has made

b to have recourse (to) look to your swords, men!

9 to be a pointer or sign these early inventions looked towards the development of industry

10 foll by: into to carry out an investigation to look into a mystery

11 tr to direct a look at (someone) in a specified way she looked her rival up and down

12 tr to accord in appearance with (something) to look one's age

to watch

1 to look at or observe closely or attentively

2 intr; foll by: for to wait attentively or expectantly

3 to guard or tend (something) closely or carefully

4 intr to keep vigil

5 tr to maintain an interest in to watch the progress of a child at school

to see [sees, seeing, saw, seen]

1 to perceive with the eyes

2 when tr, may take a clause as object to perceive (an idea) mentally; understand I explained the problem but he could not see it

3 tr to perceive with any or all of the senses I hate to see you so unhappy

4 tr; may take a clause as object to be aware of in advance; foresee I can see what will happen if you don't help

5 when tr, may take a clause as object to ascertain or find out (a fact); learn see who is at the door

6 when tr, takes a clause as object; when intr, foll by: to to make sure (of someth.) or take care (of someth.) see that he gets to bed early

7 when tr, may take a clause as object to consider, deliberate, or decide see if you can come next week

8 tr to have experience of; undergo he had seen much unhappiness in his life

9 tr to allow to be in a specified condition I cannot stand by and see a child in pain

10 tr to be characterized by this period of history has seen much unrest

11 tr to meet or pay a visit to to see one's solicitor

12 tr to receive, esp. as a guest or visitor the Prime Minister will see the deputation now

13 tr to frequent the company of she is seeing a married man

14 tr to accompany or escort I saw her to the door

15 tr to refer to or look up for further information see the appendix

16 (in gambling, esp. in poker) to match (another player's bet) or match the bet of (another player) by staking an equal sum

If I may roughly describe the differences between these three ways of making use of 'vision', I would do it like this:

The definition of looking is often about guiding either the eyes or view [def. 1, 5 ,11] or the attention [2, 3, 8a, 9] or even conclusion [3, 4, 12] into a certain direction.

But what about result? There are no guarantees: we either hope [6, 7b] or search [7a, 10], without a note about how it ends. Even having recourse to something is inconclusive: it means one is able o make use of something but that doesn't mean he will [8b].

So looking is definitely directive and suggestive, but it is inconclusive.

Watching sounds a lot more careful and aimed at detail, but I sense something stressed or negative too. It's mostly like keeping an eye out for danger, for things to be wary of, to make sure things won't go out of control.

wary: watchful, cautious, or alert;  characterized by caution or watchfulness

Seeing ... now that is beautiful!

It's about life: about sensing, perceiving and experiencing; physical or mental [1, 2, 3, 4, 8] or even with an abstract subject [10]

It's very decisive and includes the outcome [5, 6, 7, 16] or urges you not to just cast a glance - a look- at something but to study it. To undergo it !! [15]

I left out definitions 9, 11, 12, 13 ,14. They are all about seeing a human being. Let's play with it.

Seeing is about experiencing or undergoing. Or about doing a thorough in depth research for a conclusive answer, right. Keep that in mind when you look at these phrases....

I cannot stand by and see a child in pain Beauty... we are obviously sharing the child's pain, we are empathic.

to see one's solicitor Not for a cup of coffee and a chat, but for very solid advice

the Prime Minister will see the deputation now Again: not for a cup of coffee and a chat

she is seeing a married man ...

Is she looking at a married man? We all like to look at beauty, right. No harm in that.

Is she watching a married man? Is she afraid of him, or does she suspect him of a misdemeanor and wants to catch him at it?

No, she is 'experiencing' him. They are sharing some special  part of their lives....

I saw her to the door now that's a funny one. Isn't it enough to direct someone to the door? The indecisive directing as in looking. “I looked her to the door” :))

No, I saw her to the door.... because I wanted to make sure she would leave!! Not a very sympathetic expression. But some people just ask for being seen to the door.

Cameras, our mechanical eyes...

How do these things relate to our three verbs?

The easiest one is watching... can we use camera's for watching ? Definitely, they are called security cameras.

Can we use a camera for looking? Oh yes we can. It is the type of photography I'm not keen on. Just place a sound-activated camera in a crowd, like at a party, and it turns directed by the noise... or cameras with facial recognition technology. These cameras decide when and or how to make the shot of the subject they 'pick'. And snap... it makes a shot. Rather snappy. The outcome might be nice, but 9 out of 10 (999 out of 1000?) it will not be really worth while. Yup, that is looking : it has both directing and uncertainty about the outcome.

Now for the prize word: can we use a camera for seeing? What a question, that's the ultimate use of a camera. Seeing is an art word, photography is [or can be] an art.

Where most people look, or watch, or even scrutinize, a photographer may see something that the others overlooked, failed to see. The photographer uses his camera to emphasize or explain what it was that he saw. The photo may help us, overlookers, to focus and we might perceive the 'unobvious' too. If we take care to really study the photo, let it sink in...

Like I try to pass along ideas, visions and feelings with words, a photographer uses his pictures...

Is being a 'visual thinker' or 'picture thinker' a prerequisite to being a good photographer?

The Inheritance

It was like a bad dream, she thought as she made a mental list of the things she had to do. She became slower and slower in working things off her list, yet new tasks kept on adding to it at the same old speed. After enumerating the fourth post haste job, she already felt as if she was buried alive. Buried in the in the facts of life, the consequences of being human, of being a single mother. She stopped thinking. Thinking only led her to feeling paralysed. What she needed was action.

She placed her mug, bowl and spoon, her breakfast tools, on the kitchen counter, piling them up on the plates, mugs and glasses of yesterday. Then she went downstairs, to the bathroom. A shower would be nice, even though it would nibble at her time to get things done.

The shower might have washed away her negative thoughts, but as she came downstairs and entered the living room that had been her mother's, they washed right back over her again.

The room was now used for drying laundry, exercising and even as a workplace. Her mother's furniture had been taken away by an estate cleaner, except for a huge bookcase and an old fashioned roll top desk. She hadn't had the heart to let the thing be taken away. Her mother had always believed it was antique, an original 18^th century cylinder bureau she had inherited from her grandmother, who had it from … who had it from … It was her mother's wish that she, Hannah, would inherit it. The desk was just an imitation, not worth a lot and so large, it determined the atmosphere of the room, in spite of the rack filled with dry laundry and the turned up bicycle that she hadn't been able to repair. She had been able to increase the damage.

She sighed walking past the bike and mentally calculated when to iron the laundry as she swallowed down her regret for not having taken the bicycle to the repairman when the wheel could still turn.

She halted at the end of the room, at the door leading to the garden. The rabbit, a liberated, wild spirited creature, was munching on the remains of a sawed off rosebush. Too much for the big garbage bin. She might have to hire a dumpster, if she wanted to get rid off the thorny twigs in one swoop. If such a thing was available, she might as well get rid of the other things in the garden: the rusty bicycles her son no longer used, the old dead Christmas tree, the numerous empty flower boxes. The rosebushes and flower boxes had been her mother's choice. Hannah herself definitely had no 'green fingers'. But even is she'd had them, there was no time for keeping up a garden. At least it was a great place for the rabbit. That animal... it was one of the first signs of her mother's decline. Her mother had bought it in a weak moment, but never ever looked after it. Not even paid for her food, in complete ignorance of Hannah's financial problems. The rabbit had become Hannah's responsibility for the full hundred percent. The woman raised her hand in greeting as the rabbit eyed her, wondering if Hannah's appearance at the door might mean food. At least the rabbit managed to make her smile. The animal hadn't been locked up for over a year now and was probably the most wise and healthy of all the occupants of this plot. She'd gnawed at the wire mesh of her enclosure, creating two more exits, for just in case. Rabbit Architectural Instinct.

She turned her back to the messy garden, facing the laundry rack. Now, if she would fold it all that would be one thing less on her list. She remembered her mother;s habit of wanting everything to be washed, ironed and back into the closets before leaving for a holiday. Why? So she wouldn't lose the holiday feeling after crossing the threshold of her old life?

Hannah's holiday was coming near now, would she get all her laundry done before that? She duly started to pick items and started to stretch them – to reduce the creases- and folded them neatly. If she skipped ironing them, she might get everything piece of textile back into the closet before leaving. Hannah was so short, she had to stand on her toes to lift sheets from the rack without letting them brush the floor.

Maybe, she thought pausing the folding of a sheet in midair, her urge to have things done, have clean and neat surroundings, close to perfection... that was her inheritance.

Inheritances could be refused. They could even be refused after taking inventory. She gave a short laugh. She didn't need to take stock, she knew she would reject the inheritance. Time to live her own life.

Philosophical exercise 3 [S-series 7]

   Separate or intimate? 

    Sounds like I'm going to write about couples, married most likely.

No, I am thinking of a different couple: body and spirit. Or body and mind.

Some people like to think of these two as separate entities. An intimate relationship with your own body?   Ridiculous!  That used to be my answer. My mind was my mind and my body was only holding it back from going at full speed.

     Until I ran into the concept of Sensory Processing Disorder. Before that I thought that anyone who said he felt good with his body, was making it up, faking it. From the work of dr.Jean Ayres I came to understand that it does exist. And that some people have a hard job to do, if they want to build up an intimate relationship with their body.  work on dealing with the information from the vestibular organ, from the skin, proprioceptive signals... 

    And SPD is not the only cause of bad body-spirit relationships. Badly lined up vertebrae can cause the most amazing disturbances in body awareness and signals. So if you think as I used to, find out what is keeping your body and spirit apart.

     Not just to feel good. These signals determine matters of the mind, of the psyche too.

Bad balance can make one insecure and touchy. Low proprioception doesn't help you build up an image of your-'self'.  And what about children who have trouble reading, cannot determine the sequence of the letters on a line?  There is an exercise called "letter walking": large letters are laid down on the floor and the child has to stand on the letter in the middle or the first letter, etc. The spatial exercise helps the child to get a grip on the spatial organisation of words, lines, even pages in a book.

    Since body and spirit just cannot be separated, you better make sure to get as intimate with your body as you can.  Intimate as in close or warm friendship or understanding; personal relationship. [From Collins / reverso ]    So that your spirit has a body to express itself with and the body may 'know' that it's signs are well understood, appreciated and used for prosperity of 'its person' as a whole.

    The reason to bring up the subject is because the next S-series post is going to start with the concept of a "docile body".... how can a body be made docile by outsiders?  

    To turn this post into an exercise, here is a question:

Understanding, close contact, communication, with your own body makes your spirit healthier.   

Can we keep up this argument when moving from one individual to two...

In other words:

*  Can we keep body and spirit separated in relationships ? What kind of relationships are we dealing with in those cases?

*  Can close intimate physical contact make the spiritual relationship of a couple stronger and healthier?     If yes, how ?

Old Dog

  How could Life teach us 

without leaving traces?

  An old boxer, walking with his boss.The dark brown, tiger striped dog holds his head at an angle turned up to its left. As if eyeing his owner, who is just a few steps ahead of him. For a brief moment I see a slight change in the tilt, the dog picks up an interest in me. But silly self occupation is absorbing me and I fail to respond. When they pass by me it is too late, the owner, between us, blocks our view. 

    Is it really too late? I look at the boxer again, when they are a few steps away from me. And he too takes another look. Lifts his head merrily as he notices that the lady at the bus stop is finally making eye contact. His owner is walking on at their slow pace and the animal feels torn for a moment. His love for strangers wins the plea. As I pat and cuddle him, I see how white his snout is.  He must be a very old dog.

        The brown boxer can barely tear himself away from me. But he can take his time, his owner is standing still, waiting calmly now, smiling at us. He knows his friend's interest in people. I give the dog one more loving stroke, then send him back to the waiting man. Had the dog been homeless I would have taken him home with me. But he is being taken care of real fine.  I watch the two walking on, catching one more look from each of them. Only now I'm taking note of the dog's heavily bent hind legs, his twisted back. Walking must be a hard job for him. Yet he lifts his head, looking around for more people to love. What a beautiful creature.