Seeing without Labeling

“The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” ~Marcel Proust

One of the things I focused on when I was at the Chopra Center Silent retreat was to really look at things deeply; to see things without labeling them.  For when we see things and immediately label them, we move on and don’t really see the essence of that flower, tree, cloud, or even that person. When we label a flower, we know what a flower is, we’ve seen tons of flowers in our lives, and even when we label it as a rose or a tulip, we still miss that particular rose or tulip and all it has to offer. 
 
During April, I spend more time in nature and focus on being and not doing.  Yesterday, we had a lovely cloudy afternoon that brought the wonderful fragrance of rain.  I just sat in my backyard and looked at the sky, the plants, the birds and everything else and just took them in without labeling each thing I saw, heard or smelled (I had to list them here because labels is how we communicate and this blog would be boring without words).  I was living in the present moment and it was blissful!
 
Try going into nature and see if you can see deeply without labels.
 
What is it like to look deeply using all of your senses?