Friday
Oct072011
You see...
October 7, 2011 * * * * * Posted by: Jozica 
…I don't see what you see…
Does it happen to you too? That you think someone is seeing something exactly the way you see it? The same color, the same shape, thinking the same thoughts?
It happens to me a lot, although I studied psychology and about our brain. I forget. I forget that the color green you see might look different from mine. I forget that your picture of a cow in your head looks different from the one that's on my mind. I forget that what you talk about might be different from what I hear and imagine…
I wonder if all our conflicts come from this distorted pictures we create in our heads? If you don’t see what I see – how can we talk about the same thing? We can’t. I can imagine how your world you’re describing looks like, but I’m not sure if I see it the way you do, with all the details and colors.
So, sometimes, when I don’t forget to remind myself that the world I see is the one from my perspective, I stop. I stop and ask myself:
Do I see clearly?
What do I focus on?
Do I need binoculars to see well?
Should I look closer, change my perspective?
What makes me unhappy is that usually, when I’m upset or hurt or faced with a conflict, I forget to stop. I jump into this distorted picture with all of my energy and belief, without thinking about what other people are trying to do or explain. I forget to ask myself how they see me in this situation and what can I do to make the situation better.
How to gather more information and harmonize myself with another person? How to see the others the way they see themselves?
I think it takes time. We need to observe, listen, feel peace in our hearts… We need to look with our inner eyes, with our souls. We need that in order to live in harmony. We need that in order to grow, create and make a better world. We need to do that now.
Maybe we don’t need to see the whole picture yet. Maybe we can take binoculars and see what we see. Little pieces of the whole World… Why shouldn’t we start taking care of them first? Piece by piece, step by step.
Look at your piece of the World and create heaven from it. Make it so perfect that everybody will see the same picture as you. They will see what you see and no conflicts will have to split us apart.
What do you think – can you do it? Do you want to see it happen? Do you want to see what I see?
Reader Comments (14)
I think by just seeing little piece by a time, we can cope with todays world, the bigger picture might scares us too much
So much to think about here...and such an excellent reminder that we all have our own way of looking at situations...that we each arrive with our own brain wiring and baggage we've picked up along our life's journey.
Such a wonderful image to illustrate your thoughts.
This is such a good reminder, Jozica, of how egocentric we usually are, as though the entire universe revolved around me, myself and I. I hate it when I do that! You're so right about needing to just stop and ask questions about how we're seeing things. Sometimes just asking the questions will right the skewed images in our heads. Binoculars also help. :)
Powerful post Jozica, and I love it when I get to "think" and question. Your first paragraph just grabbed me as I sat here saying "oh me too!!!" -- I have often questioned and asked these things...do you see green the same way I see that green, and does the music sound the same to my ear as it does to yours. Our viewpoints are what make us who we are, but being able to step outside those boundaries and realize others may see things differently, may view them differently, allows us to open our minds and embrace the rich tapestry that we create in life. It doesn't mean we have to change our thinking (unless that's a good thing), but it means we value the way that others think and see. This weekend we celebrate our Canadian Thanksgiving...your post today reminds me that we give thanks for what we have and what we don't have...and for those who are not the same as we are but no less than us because they are different.
Oh Jozica, so much comes to mind reading your post. I am always forgetting there might be another vision than mine and sometimes I tend to "jump to conclusions"...I love how you suggest to try and look at our situation with new eyes. A very timely post, Thank you :-)
I do try to see things as others do and often I am quite good at it. But there are times when I forget and those are the times when I feel unhappy about myself.
I think we rarely see ourselves as others see us. It takes time to even think good things about ourselves, speaking for myself of course! Wonderful post!
A vision of oneness helps, if we remember that we are all the same, then it is easier to see someone else's perspective. I find my compassionate self when I put myself in other people's shoes and think about how they must feel.
Such thought provoking posts of late. I love the mental challenge I encounter here each day.
I know the way I 'see" things is often at odds with the way people who live near me do. In my case the shift is mostly due to a different cultural perspective and the fact that II was taught to challenge my perceptions and test them too.
i am like you when it comes to conflict or issues; i usually have a gut reaction and i am not very good at going away and having a good think about it. i always think the first thought/reaction is the right one, but then time/space/distance is always good to help resolve things.
Jozica, thank you for this thought filled post. You know the lyrics to the song, "One man's ceiling is another man's floor."?
You've reminded me how we all have our own unique experience of this thing called life. We are a world that, for the most part, listens autobiographically (Stephen Covey - 7 Habits of Highly Effective people). So, I can begin to experience more of your world when I can drop "my stuff" and be fully present to you and everyone/everything else going on around me.
Hugs!
Good questions and photo to go with your post. Maybe I see myself too grandiosely but I do think I do this. What frustrates me is when others don't reciprocate. It's a small thing really with relationships that don't matter in the big picture, like at work. More difficult when it's with people you care about. And frightening when it comes to people with power (like government officials and special interest groups) who can cause harm with their closed-mindedness and tunnel vision. But all we can control is at a personal level and hope that we can send out waves of change with our personal actions and voice.
Beautiful image. I wish we could give this advice to our government, our politicians, and so many others in the world. It would be such a different place if we could all empathize with those around us, even just part of the time.
But I think we can do that in ourselves, and one person at a times, it makes the world a better place.
Food for thought, thanks