Can You See What I See?
I love this photo, not only because I see something quite specific in it but also because it intrigues me that no one else sees what I see, at least not yet. When I spotted the art, shall I call it, on a recent holiday in Iceland, I was grateful for the touchscreen friendly gloves. I snapped away and voila, it was captured.
Though Paul couldn’t quite see it in real time, later after staring at my photo, albeit for a brief spell, he sort of saw what I meant, he said very sceptically. Never mind!
I have been intrigued with amalgamations of clouds, rocks, leaves, rain, snow, sand, you name it since I can remember. I will often look up at the sky, or at rain running down a windowpane and say, “oh I see a lake, an icicle or a beautiful mountain. Do you see it?” I turn to my present company with enthusiasm.
Nowadays, that is almost always Paul, who wishes me well in my sightings but has hardly ever seen any of my amalgamations, at least not with enthusiasm anyhow. His mother, on the other hand, was a natural composition spotter just like me.
And one wonderful writer friend will often see such art before I do. Once, while visiting me, many years ago, she looked out my window at a building across the way and asked had I realised I had a muse. At that point I had not, but tuned into to my winged lady ever so often after that day.
Thank goodness there is someone who can see what I see, sometimes anyhow. It would a lonely world if there wasn’t. But the truth is, two people quite often look at the same situation, hear the same facts and interpret them quite differently.
My photo and fun pastime of seeing things in places where they might not normally be seen took me back to a time when a colleague said to me, you have an answer for everything, don’t you? Not sure if her words were meant to be a compliment or a dig. But I saw what she meant. I have a habit of trying to see everyone’s perspective, especially during a crisis, instead of insisting that there is only one way to see things.
Let’s be clear, I often have had to make hard calls, after assessing the facts with the understanding that emotions often drive fixed opinions, even when if feels like they are logic driven. We humans filter everything, don’t we?
How many times have you heard or said to yourself, either literally or metaphorically, “I can’t see that.”
And whether that was literally about something in the clouds or on the ground, you have likely seen something clearly and the person next to you could not for the sake of peace see the same thing, whether in your work or personal life.
Here is the thing: this is quite common. Hence, my photo. But the key to finding harmony in a sticky situation is trying to see what the other person sees and finding a healthy resolution from there.
Of course, it won’t change a thing if you never see what I see in the photograph but if you look at another person’s background, their life situation and so on, you might be able to see their point of view. Seeing what someone else sees does not mean agreeing with it or even fully understanding it. But seeing opens the door. And you can’t find resolution with the door closed.
We all have different values, beliefs, traditions, upbringings and life situations that bring us to our thoughts, our conclusions, our perspective. And that’s okay but perspective doesn’t have to be fixed if it is subjective. Let me be clear, I am not talking about finding a grey area when something is clearly black or white and there is a lot of that going on.
What I am talking about is how stepping out of a fixed viewpoint because it is a tradition or is just who you are can be revolutionising. Try and see what someone else sees, that is, if it serves a higher purpose.
For the sake of legacy, it is worth it to me. I’d love to see what you see in my photo. So, tell me, what do you see?
