Words by: Ava Toon
Art by: Ava Toon

Whilst it may be gibberish to some, the following notes inspired me to notice more than anything else could.

 Smell of tomato vine / Zombie planet fitness at night / Soft thorn roses in Chloe’s garden

A lot of us are trying to be more “present”. A buzzword that seems to be getting thrown around more and more, as people stray further away from it. There’s nothing inherently bad about blasting music from our headphones or texting people on our daily commutes, but when it’s constant, we dull down the physical sensations around us. Sometimes, when I take a minute and set down my phone, and turn off my music while waiting at the train station, I take a moment to try to let the noise in. I listen to the world existing around me to remember what it sounds like. Weirdly enough, listening to the escalator buzz and the old man next to me cough makes me feel a lot more connected, and a lot less lonely, than I do listening to a podcast or sending an email. Sitting alone with no distractions gives me time to notice things that aren’t curated, and to understand what inspires me.

Fisheye reflection in a dog’s eye!! / Ponderosa / Two deer grazing on the grass island in the middle of the highway

Inspiration coming from places like Pinterest and Instagram can be really useful, but it’s never organic. How many posts do you remember looking at, or saving, five minutes after you turn off your phone? Looking at thousands of incredible and well-crafted pieces of art and photography online every day is a form of information overload, and reinforces the narrative that inspiration can only consist of finished works, rather than sensations or experiences. Creating collections and folders of images online can be an outlet for creativity, but it’s also a habit of avoiding creating and only consuming. Being constantly advertised “Need inspiration? Go to this digital platform” undermines the value of the real world. My friends have agreed that when we’re online too much, we feel like our identities and interests start to mesh together with what other people create, rather than our own thoughts or ideas. By taking time in our day-to-day to notice the meaning in what’s around us, we feel a lot more fulfilled. It’s as if consumer culture is making us forget what truly keeps things original- our unique way of seeing the world and our personal life experiences!

Baby laughing! Pigeons crowding around it / ’70s greatest hits in the car, everyone’s crying / On the train, both pretending we don’t see each other

Using the notes app to write quick things down that I find beautiful, or gross, or funny, or weird has helped me recognize beauty and stories around me so much more than I used to. I’m no longer taking my surroundings for granted because they’re not the perfect sixties linocut piece of art I saw online. A lot of the things I note down aren’t particularly profound or fleshed out. “Ponderosa” or “Smell of tomato vine” don’t mean much to anyone else, but to me, those notes trigger the sensations and memories I felt while writing them. Even though it’s still just another app, my notes app has saved me from completely rotting my brain, and through noticing things in the present, I’m finally starting to recover the creativity and curiosity I had as a little kid.