If you were to compare people today to people 50 years ago, we spend a lot less time observing art and nature. On average today, people in museums spend roughly 17-27 seconds looking at a painting. Even more, statistically the longer we spend with a piece of art, the more interesting it becomes. This is not just for museums, but anything else in life. The more you know a person, the more interesting they become.
Nature has such a profound impact on our well being, as well as our focus. Just as little as 10 minutes can lower our blood pressure and cortisol levels. It also has a profound impact on our attention span. Spending time in nature each day allows us to really be present with our loved ones and your artwork. Even if you don’t create art, just being more present observing other artwork or this world in return drastically improves our lives. According to “The Nature Fix” by Florence Williams, our brains aren’t evolved to take in the constant attention we demand it to do with social media, emails, and constant screentime.
Next time you are in a museum and you find a painting you enjoy, or come across a plant (even if it’s in the parking lot), before you walk away ask yourself to spend one more minute with it. You won’t be disappointed.
