Young Woman Looking Forward – John Kyffin Williams. 1950.  Wikioo.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

Henry David Thoreau

• Looking And Seeing

Looking and seeing can be quite different from each other. We can stare with blank eyes at a beautiful scene, our thoughts elsewhere, and we will not appreciate the wonders before us.

‘Stare.’ Shani Rhys James. 1997. Wikioo

On the other hand, we can decide to really focus on our surroundings, on the now, and deeply connect with the countryside, the flowers, birdsong, blue skies… then we will discover that, because of our different inner attitude, what we are seeing will also be different.

“When we change the way we look at things the things we look at will change”

Wayne W. Dyer

Starry Night. Van Gogh. Wikimedia Commons.

“When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us. There are people who see only dullness in the world and that is because their eyes have already been dulled. So much depends on how we look at things. The quality of our looking determines what we come to see.”

John O’Donohue

Van Gogh painted his legendary ‘Starry Night’ whilst looking at the scene through the bars of his window in a psychiatric hospital. Although the town, St Rémy de Provence, was pretty, Van Gogh needed a good deal of imagination to produce the above!

“The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.”

Johann von Goethe 

Despite his illness, his unique way of seeing and his prodigious artistic talent enabled Van Gogh to create great wonders on canvas.

“We see with the eyes, but we see with the brain as well. And seeing with the brain is often called imagination.”

Oliver Sacks

Using our imagination, we can add magic to the way we look at the world, just as Van Gogh has done. How often do we remember to adjust the quality of our looking, use our imagination and really take in our surroundings?

So often, our looking is, at best, partial; it is almost impossible to see everything, but a little conscious thought might enable us to notice more.

David Hockney – Winter Timber [2009] Gandalf’s Gallery.

“If you notice anything,
It leads you to notice
more
and more.”
Mary Oliver. The Moths

• A Clouded View….

obscured. moonpies for misfits. 2008. Flickr.

“One must not respond immediately to a stimulus; one must acquire a command of the obstructing and isolating instincts.”

 Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche was well aware of the importance of ensuring that we take time before we ‘respond to a stimulus.’ Otherwise, we may unconsciously put obstacles in the way that are out of our conscious control. What might these obstacles be?

Internal turmoil and unresolved anxiety can blur our viewing lens. If we are too preoccupied with, or encumbered by, past or present concerns, we cannot allow ourselves to ‘be’ in the world and will tend to drift through life without really being impacted by what is around us. Our true vision will be defective; we will not focus.

Gerhard Richter – Demo (848-3) [1997] Gandalf’s Gallery. Flickr.

“How much of life have I missed, he wondered, simply by failing to look? Or by looking and not seeing?”

Irvin D. Yalom

How we see the world and the people in it is, to some extent, an individual choice. Our attitude determines our ways of seeing, and our perception of the outer world depends on our internal world.

“Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”

 William James

Unless we know ourselves, we will see others, and the outside world, through a screen clouded by our own imaginings, projections and distortions. In addition, we will be unaware of this bias, if we have not examined ourselves psychologically and attempted, perhaps in therapy, to clear away the ‘debris.’

Cerebrum, Cerebellum, Brain Stem And Cervical Cord – Nicolas Henri Jacob. 1782-1871. Wikioo.

“Your brain will constantly rewire itself to suit the information that you feed into it. If you constantly complain, gossip, find excuses, etc., it will make it much easier to find things to be upset about, regardless of what is happening around you.

Likewise, if you constantly search for opportunities. abundance, love, and things to be grateful for, it will make it much easier to find a reflection of those things around you.

It takes practice, but over time, this is a very powerful way to reshape reality.”

Tamara Mulish

I am not talking about manufacturing a permanent smile or advocating  ‘positive thinking.’ That would be totally unrealistic, a denial of the pain and the ups and downs of life. It would be like constantly wearing ‘rose-coloured spectacles,’ ignoring the difficulties of life which need attention and consideration.

Magenta World – Wolf Kahn. 2004. Wikioo.

“You know, it’s funny; when you look at someone through rose-colored glasses, all the red flags just look like flags.”

 Wanda from Bojack Horseman

Research does not support the efficacy of self-help and positive thinking therapies; the ‘exciting’ energy of the much-hyped, motivational push towards ‘life-changing’ positivity is merely a transient thrill.

The ‘negatives’ do not miraculously disappear; they fester covertly, unconsciously, weeping purulently beneath a quagmire of ‘positive thoughts,’ or emerging in disguise as physical or psychological ills.

What I am talking about is the importance of clear vision, of facing life as unencumbered as possible by the intolerances, hindrances and prejudices that might unconsciously distort our view of life, and our attitude to ourselves and others.

• Resilience

“A happy heart can walk in triumphant indifference through a sea of external trouble; while internal anguish cannot find happiness in the most favourable surroundings.”

Hannah Whitall Smith

We cannot predict what might happen in our lives….are we prepared to try and cope with whatever life might throw at us? If we wish to do this, it is important to look at our internal resilience and our ability to adapt to external changes.

“If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”

Maya Angelou.

When we frequently cannot change what happens, we need to look at what we can have control over, which might make us feel we still have some personal power. Adapting to new circumstances, especially when life throws us curve balls, is part of being resilient.

Edward Burne-Jones Love Among the Ruins. 1894. Wikimedia Commons.

“It is in the most undesirable of external circumstances that we discover internal qualities like courage, faith, compassion, inspiration, acceptance, and love.”

Christine Hassler

• Self -Perception, Self-Knowledge, Self-Acceptance, Self-Compassion…

Urban image – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. 1913? Wikioo.

“Look at other people and ask yourself if you are really seeing them or just your thoughts about them…. Without knowing it, we are colouring everything, putting our spin on it all.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Become aware of our thoughts, which very much influence the ‘spin’ that we put on the world, is crucial if we are to see everything more clearly and to change the way we view what is around us.

Self-knowledge means that we will recognise and explore the parts of ourselves, including the ‘darker’ ones, and this will free us up to be able to relate to others and the world more openly.

“The fewer unknown spaces, the less fear. The less fear, the more we can allow the porousness necessary for listening.”

Mary Jo Peebles

This quotation is crucial and highly instructive. It graphically shows us that ‘unknown spaces,’ that is, the parts of ourselves that we might reject, deny, or shy away from can produce fear and an inability to be available for others.

We have the choice to think differently about these parts of ourselves, to realise that we all have a shadow-side, and to begin to appreciate that ‘making friends’ with our darker side can produce feelings of wholeness and calm. If we experience, for example, shame and distress because we have a lot of anger inside, then we will lack self-compassion.  If we lack compassion and acceptance for ourselves, we will not be able to show this to others.

Only then, when we have faced and accepted the existence of our ‘demons,’ will we have some control over the ‘wilder’ side of ourselves. Only then, may we look in amazement at the wonders of the world, and the joy of other people, having worked at coming to terms with who we are.

It is not always easy to face ourselves in this way, yet it can reap great rewards. Self-perception dramatically influences the way we see and think about the world around us.

Through The Looking Glass – Elizabeth Adela Stanhope Forbes. 1914. Wikioo.

“It’s the beauty within us that makes it possible for us to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what you look at but what you see.”

Henry David Thoreau

If we can learn to accept and appreciate ourselves, without constantly looking at what we perceive as our faults, then the world’s imperfections will appear less important, leaving us more room and clearer vision to appreciate its beauty.

“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.”

Abraham Maslow

Self-Portrait – Henri Fantin Latour. Wikioo.

“You are what you believe yourself to be.”

 Paulo Coelho.

• Learning to See Things Differently Changes Your World…..

Home Sweet Home – Charles Rettew Sheeler Junior. Wikioo.

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

Terry Pratchett

Seeing a place with new eyes can be an invigorating experience. The actual place may not have changed, but if it appears different, it is you who has changed. Suddenly, you see aspects that you have never noticed before. Being away has widened your vision, shedding new light on what you are seeing.

A Shaft of Light, That Day, on the Train. 2005. Alistair Crawford. Wikioo.

“The one who travels like a lover searching for a new passion is suddenly blessed with new eyes, new ears, new senses.”

Anais Nin

Similarly, when we re-read a book, or look again at old photographs, they seem to have altered…we imbue them with new meaning, according to changes in our internal world. WE see THEM differently.

“The meaning of everything is the meaning I give it.”

Neale Donald Walsh

Even the very ordinary can become extraordinary if we give it new meaning, developing new ways of seeing.

Fountain. “Marcel Duchamp’s most famous piece of art.”bs_gif. Flickr

“You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.”

 Andy Warhol

“My intention is to ‘seek the sacred in the ordinary.”

Clementina van der Walt

Nothing could be more ordinary than an old urinal, yet Duchamp has ultimately rendered it an object worthy of display in the Tate Gallery. This is one of Duchamp’s ‘readymades,’ which is representative of the artist..

 “…testing the commitment of the new American Society Of Independent Artists  to freedom of expression and its tolerance of new conceptions of art.”

Tate:   Follow this link for further information on “Fountain”.

Every moment has the potential to become special, and to produce unexpected results; we simply have to be aware enough to notice the miracles that are there, around us, even on the most ‘ordinary’ of days. Ordinariness is in the eye of the beholder.

Fritz Stotz. Girl Cleaning Silver. (Mädchen beim Silberputzen) Wikimedia Commons. 1919

“There are no ordinary moments.”

Dan Millman

The different ways of seeing of both the artists above have added significance to their work, elevating the subject out of the mundane into the realms of the considerably more interesting. Every moment, every scene, embodies something beautiful. It all depends on the way we look at it.

“Art is that which helps you see
beauty in the mundane…
Let my life be a work of art.”

Eric Overby

Rupi Kaur by Baljit Singh. Wikimedia Commons.

for you to see beauty here
does not mean
there is beauty in me
it means there is beauty rooted
so deep within you
you can’t help but
see it everywhere

Rupi Kaur

© Linda Berman.

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