The Practice of Noticing: What a Color Photo Trend Teaches Us About Mindfulness

The Color Hunt: A Playful Mindfulness Practice in Plain Sight

I’ve been seeing a fun, engaging trend on social media that turns out to be a surprisingly powerful mindfulness activity in disguise. 

Groups of friends and photography meetups are gathering in neighborhoods for "Color Hunts." Each person chooses a color at random and heads out to "hunt" for it. As they walk, they scan their surroundings, photographing every vivid splash of their chosen hue. Later, they compile these into a beautiful composite gallery and compare their findings.

On the surface, it’s a creative challenge. But underneath? It’s a real-world exercise in attention training.

As a photography enthusiast myself, I’m especially drawn to this activity and its natural crossover with mindfulness. Instead of moving through the world on autopilot, participants are intentionally directing their focus to the environment and possibilities around them. They are practicing awareness in motion.

Autopilot and Being Out of Focus: How We Normally Move Through the World

So often, we move through life on autopilot. We execute tasks with just enough attention not to bump into things, physically or metaphorically.

Reflect on your daily commute, folding laundry, or grocery shopping. Your body moves, the task gets done, but your awareness is... elsewhere. In this state, we filter aggressively. We tune out the world to conserve energy, often because we're bored or overwhelmed.

In this state, we filter aggressively. We tune out most of our surroundings in order to conserve energy or complete what feels necessary. Sometimes this autopilot behavior is driven by overwhelm or attention fatigue. More often, it’s tied to boredom or lack of interest. If a task doesn’t feel meaningful, the mind narrows its focus to the bare minimum required. Over time, this can become a common way of operating. 

We become efficient, but not present. And when we live this way, we can miss out on much of the texture of our own lives. With activities like the color hunt, we interrupt that filtering.

Zooming In: What Changes When You Look for One Thing.

Compare autopilot to the color hunt. The moment you’re assigned "Blue," something shifts.

• Perception Sharpens: What was background noise becomes the foreground.

• The Ordinary Becomes Interesting: A rusty fire hydrant or a discarded candy wrapper transforms into a "find."

• Pace Slows: You can't hunt at full speed. You have to linger.

This is intentional awareness. Mindfulness isn't about passively hoping to be present; it’s about actively engaging your attention. Once you see how easily your perception can be redirected, you realize how much of your experience is shaped by what you choose to notice.

Now you’re practicing selective focus. You’re tuned to a specific target while still taking in the broader environment. Your awareness expands and narrows at the same time.

This is a perception shift.

Your intention is directing your awareness. You have consciously chosen what to notice. That is the critical element. Mindfulness is not about passively hoping to be present. It is about actively engaging your attention.

And once you see how easily perception can be redirected, you start to realize how much of your experience is shaped by what you choose to notice.

The Mindfulness Parallel: Training Your Attention in the Present Moment

This is the essence of mindfulness.

At its core, mindfulness practice is about engaging awareness in the present moment rather than automatically honoring every story the mind creates. Our thoughts constantly pull us into the past or project us into the future, often generating emotions that feel real and urgent in the current moment. But awareness gives us a choice.

Mindfulness is the intentional training of attention.

Mindfulness is not an escape from reality. It is not floating above the clouds or passively drifting through life. It is active. It is deliberate. It is the intentional training of attention.

When we practice mindfulness, we begin examining our thought patterns. We notice how certain narratives shape our emotional state. Over time and with deliberate effort, we learn how to shift patterns that no longer serve us and better understand those that limit us.

“I walked three blocks” can become “I noticed three shades of green I’ve never seen before.”

“I survived my day” can become “I found five small moments of beauty inside my day.”

The external world may not change, but your perception of it does. And perception shapes experience.

This is how the practice of noticing strengthens your mindfulness practice. It reminds you that attention is not accidental. It is intentional and trainable.

Sharp Focus.  Why This Matters (Beyond Pretty Photos): The Real Benefits of Mindful Attention

When we’re not practicing mindfulness, we tend to rush and react to life instead of slowing down and engaging with it. We may operate from assumptions and quick judgments because it feels normal, easier, almost energy-efficient. But reactive behavior often creates more stress, not less.

Autopilot may be efficient, but it is rarely conscious.  We check out because we’re not engaged. We’re bored or disinterested in what’s taking place in the moment. 

When we practice noticing, we interrupt those habits. We consciously widen and sharpen our perception. We take agency over our attention instead of allowing it to be pulled by past emotional memories or by conjuring future fears.

This is where the real benefit lies.

Mindfulness helps reduce stress not by changing external circumstances, but by anchoring awareness in the present moment without judgment. When attention is grounded in what is happening right now, rumination and anxiety lose some of their grip. The nervous system settles. The mind becomes clearer.

Try this for yourself.

Catch yourself the next time you are moving through the day on autopilot. Choose one specific detail to focus on. A color. A sound. A texture. Give your full attention to it.  Notice if your experience shifts.

Focus your lens on the present moment. It is the only place where life actually unfolds.

Try It Now: #thepracticeofnoticing

If you’d like to experiment with this, join me! You don't need a fancy camera, a smartphone or even just your eyes will do.

The Challenge:

1. Pick a Color: Do this at the start of your day or week.

2. Move as Usual: No need to change your routine.

3. Quietly Hunt: Let that color guide your eyes during your commute or while walking the dog.

4. Reflect: At night, ask yourself: Did my pace slow? Did I see something I usually miss?

If you’re feeling creative, try variations:

• Look for a shape instead of a color. Circles. Triangles.

• Look for a concept: Reflections. Things that appear worn. Patterns in nature.

• Look for light. Or shadow.

• Take it to the next level with color shade. Royal blue instead of blue.

The goal is not the perfect photo. The goal is present moment awareness.