The pictures from the Hubble telescope are so astounding, so pleasing, so beautiful: they’re like patchwork quilts.
Bobbie Ann Mason, Master Class, by Nancy Bunge
Notice the effort Mason puts into describing what she sees. After three tries, she’s still not satisfied: “They’re like patchwork quilts.”
Getting to what you see, what you think, what you feel takes effort. The reward is getting to savor, in greater detail, your own way of being in the world. Metaphor is particularly rewarding in this regard: Only you would compare this to that.
Practice: Come up with a metaphor for something, anything, that catches your attention. The more often you do this practice the more precise — and odder — your comparisons will become.
Related practices: Rough drafts