Understanding is sensing well.
When I ask illustrators or designers what is a fundamental skill when it comes to their craft, many reply “seeing well”. It sounds obvious, but it's easy to ignore the deep implications because of how simple the answer is. Many aspiring artists grab a pencil and start drawing right away. But few focus on what the world is really telling them.
I try to be mindful of this and practice the skill often. It's a keystone skill; seeing well makes life more riveting: if you pay attention to your loved ones, your relationships flourish; and, if you see people wholly, it's hard to judge anyone.
Seeing well simplifies problems; a lack of vision makes them more difficult.
Why did it take me so long to see this? The best reason I could come up with is that is hard not to take reality for granted. That's why many drawing exercises involve tricking your brain by fighting presumption: drawing upside down, focusing on the background (instead of the foreground), or drawing simple shapes until they become second nature.
Kill presumption to understand the world.
Seeing things for what they are is priceless. And this does not only apply to vision: understanding is sensing well.
I wonder if this is the reason why we say “Oh, I see.” when we (think we) understand something.