August 6--Things Aren't As They Seem

We don't see things as they are;
we see them as we are.

Anais Nin

* * * * *

Today's Meditation:

A lot of people don't get this.  We think that what our eyes see is the bottom line of everything, but we often don't get that we're projecting on to those objects almost everything about them.  Attractiveness, beauty, ugliness, fascination, wonder, awe--you name it, and the feeling comes from inside us, in our spirits and our minds.  That's how three people can look at a rainbow and see three different things--an amazing miracle, a weather-related occurrence, or the refraction of light in drops of water.  And get twenty more people and you'll have twenty more ways of seeing it.

This explains a lot more than we want it to, because if we pay attention to what we're seeing and how we're seeing it, we can learn a lot about ourselves, as well as who and what we are.  When I was a younger teacher, for example, I used to see disruptive students as a challenge to my authority--and I was indeed rather insecure about the authority I had.  Nowadays, I see disruptions as cries for attention and help, and I don't feel any threat at all; I also am much more confident and secure in my profession.

If I were a marriage counselor, or even just a relationship counselor, I would encourage people to write down what they see in the other person, and then apply what they see to themselves and their own lives.  What would they learn about themselves?  And what would they learn about the unfair judgments and expectations that they project on others?

We could learn so much about ourselves from ourselves!  All it takes is being honest and shifting our perspective to acknowledge that most of the judgments we make and thoughts we have about things and people come from inside of ourselves, and not from the things or people themselves.  That honesty could lead us to some wonderful revelations about who and what we are.

* * * * *

Questions to consider:

How do we learn to think that we're somehow "objective" about the things and people we see?

What would it take to shift your perspective to start to figure out what parts of yourself are showing up in what you think you're seeing?

Is it true that when we're feeling better about ourselves, we see the world more brightly?  How does that relate to Anais' statement?

* * * * *

For further thought:

There's a story about a man who found that a tool of his was gone. He suspected a neighbor boy, and the next time he saw the boy, he walked like a thief, talked like a thief, and acted like a thief. The next day, though, the man found the tool someplace where he had left it himself. The next time he saw the neighbor boy, the child walked, talked, and acted just like a boy.

unattributed




more thoughts and ideas on perspective