This article has been authored by a member of The Quint. Our membership programme allows those who are not full-time journalists or our regular contributors to get published on The Quint under our exclusive 'Member's Opinion' section, along with many other benefits. Our membership is open and available to any reader of The Quint. Become a member today and send us your articles at TQmembersonly@thequint.com.There is an art that very few of us practice anymore. It isn't painting. It isn't music. It isn't writing. It is simply... noticing.Noticing the people around us, noticing kindness, noticing beauty, noticing effort, noticing gratitude…. Noticing life.We have become incredibly efficient at moving through our days, but perhaps not at experiencing them.A few months ago, I was sitting at a traffic light when the lady in the car beside me rolled down her window. She smiled and said, "Hi... I hope all is well with you. I just wanted to connect and exchange a smile."The light turned green a few seconds later, and we both drove away. That interaction lasted no more than 10 seconds. Yet, I still remember it. Not because it was extraordinary. But because someone noticed another human being.Another day, while walking through a shopping mall, a lady stopped me. "I love your slippers," she said with a smile. I laughed, thanked her, and happily told her where I had bought them. Again, nothing life-changing. Or was it? For a few moments, two strangers connected over something as simple as a compliment. No agenda, no expectation. Just a little more humanity.These moments have made me realise something. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give each other isn't advice, money, or grand gestures. Perhaps it is simply making another person feel noticed.As artists, we notice colours others overlook. As photographers, we notice light. As musicians, we notice sound. As writers, we notice stories. But what if we all became artists of noticing people... and beauty?I have realised this is something I do almost without thinking. Whenever I am driving with family or friends, I often find myself saying, "Look at that magnificent tree covered in flowers," or "Did you see that beautiful bird sitting on that branch?" Almost every time, the response is the same, "Oh yes... I hadn't noticed. How beautiful!"The beauty was always there. It simply needed someone to notice it first.I often wonder how much of life passes us by because we are looking ahead instead of looking around. Perhaps awareness is not about finding extraordinary things. Perhaps it is about learning to notice the extraordinary that quietly exists around us every single day. And if we can learn to notice beauty in nature, perhaps we can also learn to notice beauty in people.A tired colleague, the neighbour who always smiles, the security guard who greets everyone every morning, the waiter who remembers your favourite coffee, or the elderly gentleman sitting quietly in the park. How different would our communities become?Even with the best intentions, many of us still struggle to stop long enough to notice our own lives. Perhaps that is the real wake-up call. Not that we are too busy, but that we are becoming too distracted to appreciate what is quietly happening around us every single day. What if noticing became a daily habit?Noticing the sunrise before looking at your phone, noticing the person serving your coffee, noticing your parents growing older, noticing your child's excitement while telling you a story, noticing your own achievements instead of only your unfinished tasks, and noticing yourself.(Anu Singh is an artist, certified Zentangle teacher, Neuro Linguistic Programming Master practitioner (Life Coach), art workshop facilitator, creator of handcrafted colouring books, journals, and diaries. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)