Rx 4: Perspective

I often wonder about how the same things can appear so differently to different people. How is it that I can have a conversation with someone and our takeaways can be on completely different pages? How can I experience the same event with another person, and yet when we recount it, we remember entirely different things? This, to me, is perspective. Perspective is how I can see the same things as others, and yet not; perspective is how I can experience the same person, place, or time again and again and yet can always find a new angle from which to explore.

What happens when we invite someone into our field of view? How might we grow together when we both make ourselves vulnerable enough to help someone else see a picture from our perspective - and keep our minds and hearts open enough to see the world from theirs?

I remember visiting the art exhibit above and first seeing the pictures from a distance, and liking the images. I took a few steps closer, to better see each panel. But when I got really close - my face just inches from the frame - I realized that they were not really images, but rather a collection of strategically-placed black lines and white spaces that created the optical sense of a portrait, or a sketch, or whatever the entire form may be. No one view was wrong; my vision was enhanced by having these multiple perspectives. I have to remind myself sometimes to look at difficult or uncomfortable situations from a new angle, just as viewing this art shifted when I began to take steps.

In relationships I am starting to seek that perspective-sharing. I think it is a gift when we can provide a new vantage point on a familiar scene. The mind and heart expansions that happen when we create space for new perspectives is what I imagine keeps us inspired and growing, both as individuals and together.

Art: Chris Cran