Do you tend to feel that there is only one way of seeing yourself and others? Do you look at the world only through a single, narrow perspective?

“The greatest tragedy for any human being is going through their entire lives believing the only perspective that matters is their own.”

Doug Baldwin

Some people have rigid views and they block out anything that challenges these, regarding any alternative ways of seeing as ‘wrong.’ Their own ideas constantly reverberate in their heads, obliterating doubt and swiftly rejecting any challenge to their fixed ways of thinking. 

Inevitably, we will all filter what we perceive through our own personal lens;  some people’s perspectives are clouded with a foggy mix of their own experiences, biases, rigidities, fixed mindsets and opinions. This happens to a greater or lesser extent, depending on how much self-awareness there is, and how far one has journeyed into the deeper reaches of their inner world.

Mayastar. My Inner Journey. 2009. Flickr

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

Marcus Aurelius , Meditations

The ‘I’m always right” approach, where there is a conviction that “only I, and only those who think just like me, are on the right path” means that life is full of polarisations, of ‘either/or’ attitudes, of binaries, rights and wrongs, lacking room for doubt or shades of grey.

This is a denial of the reality that our world is full of variety, nuance and diversity… and of people who have a multitude of different perspectives.

Head of a Woman. Picasso.1940. Wikimedia Commons

“Each person does see the world in a different way. There is not a single, unifying, objective truth. We’re all limited by our perspective.”

Siri Hustvedt

• Widening our perspective: seeing the whole picture

Anne-Marie Zanetti – There’s Always Another Way [2021] Oil on Canvas.Gandalf’s Gallery. Flickr.

“There’s always another way. And that doesn’t make them bad or worse than other ways…things are the way they are- it’s how you handle them that determines the outcome.”

Courtney Turk

The quotation underlines the fact that there are many, many perspectives. Awareness of this fact alone can make life both exciting and challenging. Beginning to understand this is crucial if we are to become more open and intuitive.

It is too easy to judge someone without having all the facts; the snippets of information and two- minute videos on social media can distort the truth.

The advert below has stayed with me for years and its message still applies to the way some people are content with having only a partial view of reality, making erroneous judgements on scanty and partial evidence…

In similar, but less dramatic vein, I have digitally altered the painting below, so that some important information is omitted; I am therefore showing only a single, partial perspective.

Detail of Trompe-l’oeil.Loriol-sur-Drôme,France. 2010. jean-louis Zimmermann. Wikimedia Commons (edited)

“Life is about perspective and how you look at something… ultimately, you have to zoom out.”

Whitney Wolfe Herd

The image apparently shows a lovely village street in France. However, if we look at the whole, undoctored painting, we will see that this is not the case at all. The truth of the work is that it represents a painting within a painting; by concealing some visual information, I have completely hidden this important fact, and changed the meaning and perspective of the work.

Trompe-l’oeil.Loriol-sur-Drôme,France. 2010. jean-louis Zimmermann. Wikimedia Commons

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

Neale Donald Walsh

This quotation highlights the fact that we ourselves determine how we see the world and, in the process, attribute meaning to what we find.

A closed mindset will result in a one-sided, prejudiced view, without perspective or consideration. Gaining new perspectives and insight depends on how much we allow ourselves to be open-minded. How to achieve this?

Below are some thoughts…

• Stepping away from the world…

Georg Schrimpf – Auf dem Balkon. (On the Balcony.)1927. Wikimedia Commons

“It’s the man who steps away from the world whose sleeve is wet with tears for it.”

Bill Viola.

Stepping away from the world can take many forms. ‘Zooming out,’ mentioned above, means that we stand back in order to gain a wider, more panoramic view.

Sometimes we might need more than this and require time out, a period of rest, like switching a computer off and on again in order to reboot it.

Portrait of a Crying Man. c. 1905. Theo van Doesburg. Wikimedia Commons

Doing either of the above will allow us to reflect, to get in touch with emotions, perhaps becoming ‘wet with tears’ as we contemplate our problems and challenges in a tough world.

Paul Cézanne – Turn in the Road. c 1881. Wikimedia Commons

“It’s not only moving that creates new starting points. Sometimes all it takes is a subtle shift in perspective, an opening of the mind, an intentional pause and reset, or a new route to start to see new options and new possibilities.”

Kristin Armstrong

Such time out, even if it is quite brief, may allow the kind of ‘subtle shift in perspective’ that we need to move on. ‘Being,’ rather than ‘doing’ in this way creates the space for a deeper kind of reflection, where activity is not used defensively, in order to avoid emotion.

• Becoming more adaptable: seeking self-knowledge

Exploring the self, in a quiet and peaceful space, can open up our minds to new ideas, thoughts, perspectives and ways of thinking. We can question ourselves and our approach to the world.

Are we limiting ourselves by being too narrow in our outlook? Do we tend towards the inflexible and the authoritarian?

Those who think in such tight and constricted, controlling ways, as mentioned above, who cannot tolerate any diversity of opinion, will tend to want a relatively unchanging world. The formulaic nature of such ways of thinking leads to an immovability, a manner of asserting one’s views that tolerates no contradiction, no possibilities, no choice and certainly no alternative perspectives to their own.

Alexei von Jawlensky – Portrait of a Woman. 1912. Wikimedia Commons.

“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.

“The difference between a mountain and a molehill is perspective.”

Al Neuharth.

Are you someone who makes mountains out of molehills, who catastrophises? If so, whether things are trivial or really tough, life will feel even more confined than it needs to be and there will be no space to think, contemplate, work through or reflect.

Untitled (Three Tiered Perspective) – Mark Grotjahn. 1999. Wikioo

“The only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don’t have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how you view it.”

Chris Pine

• Developing empathy

Edward Ardizzone A Patient in a Medical Aid Post. 1941. Wikimedia Commons.

“Empathy begins with understanding life from another person’s perspective. Nobody has an objective experience of reality. It’s all through our own individual prisms.”

Sterling K. Brown

Empathy for another person, whether in an everyday context or as a therapist, depends on being able to ‘look out of the other person’s window.’ It is the ability to put oneself into the world of another, in both a thinking and feeling way, as far as that is possible.

Being empathic is really trying to understand how another person sees and experiences the world. It is far from easy, requiring a shift in mindset, an ability to be aware of and withhold one’s own ways of thinking and seeing and taking on another’s worldview. This may be achieved through working on the self, perhaps in therapy.

Image: Pixabay.

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?”

Henri David Thoreau

It is, of course impossible to actually look at the world through another person’s eyes; however, we can gain a real sense of how they see the world through what they do and say. This will only be possible if we really listen, being clear and as free as possible from projecting onto others our own biases and prejudices.

• Turning things upside down

The World Turned Upside Down. Sculpture by Mark Wallinger at the London School of Economics, unveiled in March 2019. Author: Ambubu. Wikimedia Commons.

“I like to turn things upside down, to watch pictures and situations from another perspective.”

Ursus Wehrli

What would happen if we allowed ourselves time to play with our thoughts and ideas? For example, we could try turning things upside down, figuratively or literally, exploring the paradoxes, new shades of meaning and opposites thus created.

In doing this, we gain fresh perspectives and we begin to notice different aspects of our world.

“I’m interested when things are upside down – because there are so many possibilities in that one moment. There is a lot that is exposed.”

Anna Deavere Smith

When we invert the world in this way, we will find ourselves paying more attention to shapes than we might do if the image were the ‘right’ way up. This is because the objects in the image- walls, pavements and trees- are very familiar to us all and so we tend not to examine them closely enough. Can you find the animal in the above inverted photograph?

Some artists actually draw objects upside down, so that they can override their preconceived ideas and gain mastery in relation to the true shapes. This is an important part of their learning process.

I end this post with some different ways of seeing our world, adding new dimensions to our awareness and expanding current perspectives…

“Life is too short to always stay right side up. Embrace the upside down.”

Unknown

Lena Vasiljeva. Upside Down. Flickr.

“Learn to see things backwards, inside out, and upside down.”

John Heider

Christiaan Triebert. Glued in Firenze. 2008. Flickr

“Do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know the side you are used to is better than the one to come?”

Rumi

Weymouth Bay With Approaching Storm. John Constable. 1818. Wikimedia Commons

“I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may, – light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.”

John Constable

© Linda Berman