I am a tender observer

In Quantum realm, the aspect of an observer is ever present.

In my work I am following the philosophy of German polymath, writer, poet, scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) who provided an unconventional understanding of our perception of the world. He advocated for what he called: tender empiricism, seeing the relationship between subject and object as tender, interconnected, mindful and vulnerable.

According to Goethe: ‘Every object well-contemplated opens a new organ of perception in us’. With the sensitivity and intuitive nature of a poet, Goethe approached the process of observation by simply lingering open mindedly over the object without trying to extract any specific conclusion or universal principles, without imposing nor controlling.

In his act of conscious, patient observation Goethe sets a clear intention to almost merge with the observed object by suspending all expectations and presumptions, and by allowing the process to take its own course, to self organize, to engage him as participator and eventually even to transform him. He claimed that through contemplating things so carefully, tenderly, one can start noticing things that were originally unnoticed, even invisible, and that each new “emerging “ thing coming into perception impacts one in a mysterious, transformative way. The observed and the observer become intertwined and there is no separation. In that space, of interconnectedness between the observer and the observed - a sense of awe, enchantment and miracle of life can be born.

I believe that this quantum way of going through liminal experience opens up for truly deep transformations, letting our perception to shift from a linear, rational gathering of information as fragmented events, thoughts and emotions followed by our mechanical reactions, to an all embracing mindful, multisensory contemplation of the liminality as a process followed by our “tender” responsiveness to it.

I therefore advocate for Goethes methodology of the tender observer as a suggested way to approach liminal spaces. I don't lead the process. I become one with the process and let myself to be led by it. I believe that the process of observation has it own innate intelligence and the intention behind the attention is the key to the process to self emerge and self organise.

This mindset requires commitment, patience and discipline regarding keeping my urge to deliver conclusions and assumptions at bay and allowing new, previously unobserved structures to emerge. I am also aware that with each new component presenting itself to my perception, a new aspects of myself come into existence at the same time. Paradoxically, through suspending my urge to control and to make sense of everything I observe, I create the biggest impact on the circumstances.

The intention that fuels our attention constitutes our agency through the transformation; whether we choose to look at the process as a mysteriously unfolding “miracle” with us as active participants, or just a series of concrete, hard facts happening outside of us, that will determine the outcome of the process as well as our experience of it.

"Tenderness personalizes everything to which it relates making it possible to give it the space and the time to come into existence, and to be expressed. Tenderness perceives the bonds that connect us, the similarities and sameness between us. It is a way of looking that shows the world as being alive, living, interconnected, cooperating with, and codependent on itself."

Olga Tokarczuk, Nobel Prize in litterature 2018