Perspective

Banner Image: Wembley Stadium

"AHHHHHHH!" thousands of fans screamed as he headed towards the stage. Performing on stage was his favorite part of the job. He smiled from ear to ear as he stood back and listened to the entire Wembley Stadium sing back to him his lyrics.

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Ava thought that the man standing before her, singing his heart out, was the coolest person. She had been his fan since his first post on YouTube just singing a cover of "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty in his room. Ava even went to his concert when he was just performing in small college auditoriums. Now, she saw him performing in one of the largest stadiums in the entire world. She would memorize his lyrics, analyze his every dance move, and even listen to or read any of his interviews. Honestly, she would do anything to meet him.

Her friends said she was obsessed. Every time Ava would go to his concert, she would come back and talk nonstop about it to them. Nick, one of Ava's friends, could not wrap his head around what the big deal was with this singer. Ava showed Nick pictures from the concert as well as made him listen to the songs she sang along to. Still, however, Nick was not impressed. Rather, Nick thought of him as an untalented celebrity unworthy of the fame he had achieved.

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Earlier that evening, Natalia was in her flat. She froze in place as she was crossing her living room to go into the kitchen because she saw him: her ex. Suddenly, Natalia caught her roommate quickly change the channel of the telly from her ex-boyfriend's televised stadium concert to the food channel. Natalia became filled with rage every time he waltzed back into her mind. It had been two months since they broke up, but everyone in her life was still tiptoeing around her when it came to him and his fame. She regretted having him in her life as she thought of him as a player who toiled with her feelings.

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Right by the stage at the concert stood Ashley. She was happy to see her friend perform in their hometown. Ashley looked at him, then to the crowd, then back at him. Every so often, her friend would glance at her with gleaming pride, which made her heart smile. She could see her friend extremely elated as he did what he loved.

After the concert, they grabbed Nando's as this was their favorite restaurant. Time passed them without a single notice. Ashley's side ached as she laughed all night because of how goofy he was. Her favorite thing about him was that he always made time for his friends. She knew he was tired from performing that night, yet he was still there in front of her, engaged in conversation, spending time with her. He really was one of her truest, kindest friends.

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Each person is entitled to having their own opinion based on the unique lenses they wear. Ava, Nick, Natalia, and Ashley all viewed the famous singer with different perspectives based off the history and interactions they had with him. Some thought of him as good, while others hated his being. Furthermore, as readers, we only viewed one side of Ava, Nick, Natalia, and Ashley. Did we get caught up in judging them because we only saw one layer of them too? We cannot control how others view and think of us. Rather, we can only control our own attitude, actions, and words, and at least be aware that there are many layers to a person that we may never fully understand. Through knowing that we may never quite understand someone's full story will lead us to empathize more with others. In a world that is easy to criticize, as well as to feel put down, we must remember to disregard the "noise" the world may put around us and be our authentic selves.

Author's Note:

My story is loosely based off of the Jataka Tale, "The Red-Bud Tree." In this tale, I found the lesson to be: A single thing can be seen from different perspectives. When we view a single person or thing, we are all looking at it with our own unique lenses, whether it be at different times, the same time but at different angles, or the same time and angle but with different mindsets due to past history and memories. In the original story, there were four princes who saw a Red-Bud Tree at different seasons of its life. Each prince saw something different from the other princes when looking at the tree.

Therefore, I wanted to use this lesson about perspective as the foundation for my own story. In my story, the Red-Bud Tree is replaced by a famous celebrity, while the four princes were replaced by four people who knew the celebrity, but through different capacities. I wanted to do it in this way because I wanted to incorporate a lesson about remembering that we have no control of others but only ourselves.

I chose to write the story using third-person language because I wanted to have a helicopter view of the entire situation in order to acknowledge the different perspectives of the four people on the famous celebrity. I also chose not to name the celebrity. I feel that all readers are a fan of someone, and this celebrity portrayed in the story can be replaced by whoever the reader is a fan of.

Furthermore, I chose not to give the perspective of the celebrity. I wanted to keep the celebrity as a single item, like the Red-Bud Tree, who did not have a verbal role in the sections where another person's perspective is being described. This was to further enhance the message that we cannot control what others think about us. As I continued revising the story, I realized that I was judging Ava, Nick, Natalia, and Ashley. I was categorizing and placing them in a single box - but this went against an entire theme of the story of not judging people. Ava, Nick, Natalia, and Ashley were all categorizing the celebrity in a single box which I think is shallow. However, I did the same thing to them. Therefore, in my concluding paragraph I wanted to encourage the reader to do a self-check to make sure they were not judging Ava, Nick, Natalia, Ashley, or the celebrity like I was. We NEVER really understand someone's full story in life. Therefore, I hope we choose to do a self-check in our own lives to make sure that we are showing empathy and grace with those around us.

Bibliography: "The Red-Bud Tree" from More Jataka Tales, Part A. Author: Ellen C. Babbitt. Illustrator: Ellsworth Young. 1922.