Changing perspective

What is perspective? Perspective is a point of view, a recognition of a bigger picture, or a different way of looking at the world. Sometimes, changing perspective makes all of the difference, allowing you to experience life from another view.

I’ve been thinking about perspective lately.

Sometimes changing perspective means shifting locations

In the deep middle of an Alaskan winter, I was caught in the darkness and almost forgot there was light. Without realizing I had lost perspective, I kept stepping forward. Only when I stepped off the plane in Maui did I stop to realize there was light and warmth in other places. Dark and light exist together, miles apart on the same planet. Yes, it’s obvious when you think about it but changing my locale I felt this change in perspective, a shift deep within.

Two days later, walking through a gallery my mother in law sat down in a small room. “Sometimes you have to change your perspective,” she said.

Changing perspective may be changing how we think

We humans get lost, caught up in what we think we see. We do see but we don’t see all. We only see some. And sometimes we see what we don’t see, or we think we see but we don’t. Like the story of the elephant with four blind men, each feeling a part and experiencing only that part. Thinking they knew what they “saw” with their hands.

A week in the warm sunshine changed my perspective, shook me out of what I thought I knew about the moment. A gradual shift, a reminder that a world, perhaps worlds exist beyond what I experience in any given moment.

And sometimes changing perspective is simply recognizing others’ stories

Our world evolves and changes every minute, intertwined and intersecting stories in one great rhythm of a story. A friend celebrates a birthday. Another grieves the anniversary of a loved ones’ passing. A niece moves into a place of her own and starts a new job. Daughters and sons finish college courses or graduate. Babies are born, a couple is married on the beach below the restaurant.

Grasping the big story in my two hands is nearly impossible as I follow thread after thread. And yet, having a big perspective isn’t really the point. Knowing different perspectives exist means accepting the stories, meeting them in the moment, and holding them lightly. Letting them go on to unfold as they will. Yes, even sorrow and joy must be held together, along with the dark and the light.

Changing perspective always means holding the big picture

Holding a viewpoint, a perspective, bigger than us, gives grace to ourselves and those around us. God’s biggest gifts are love, peace and grace.

So what am I really trying to say? Perhaps just this. Be kind. Practice neighborly habits. Know that you hold only a small portion of the story. Hold life loosely, in the moment. And be open to another perspective, perhaps unlike yours, that exists just beside you.

A prayer for you

In this season of peace, practice patience. Practice perspective. May you be open to the stories unfolding around and beside yours. May you bring love, peace and grace to those around you. And may you feel God’s presence always.