P - Perspective

I have always loved art. From a very young age I would color, draw, and paint. My mom tells a story about me drawing a small mural on the wall when I was about 4. It was of Cinderella's stagecoach. I don't remember doing it but my mom says she was so upset and didn't know how she was going to get that wall clean. One of her friends saw the masterpiece and was very impressed by my talent. She said, "Oh don't clean it off, frame it!" At the time, my mom could not believe she said that, and years later she thought, "I wish I had at least taken a picture of it." It's all about perspectives.

My youngest son used to love to wear red rainboots - everywhere all the time. He wore them so much he wore a hole on the bottom, so we bought him a new pair - bright yellow. He wore them in the heat of summer and even to the beach! I took him and his older brother to have their portraits done; it was a fun portrait place in the mall.  I bought them somewhat matching outfits, even their shoes were the same style. But my youngest refused to wear them even though he loved to match his older brother. My friend said, ""Don't sweat the small stuff, just let him be in his rainboots, it's who is right now and what he loves. One day you will look back and laugh at the memory." She was so right! Today, my boys are grown and that picture is one of my favorites of the two of them, exactly who they were in that moment. I am so grateful for friends who see the world through different colored lenses. 

I used to love being on social media. When I first created my account, I was quickly in touch with family I hadn't seen in years and found friends from high school I otherwise wouldn't have connected with. It was fun to see how family was doing, and what friends were doing in their now adult lives.  Somewhere along the way though things changed and friends and family were at each other's throats, via type-written-lashings for all to see.  They just couldn't see, accept or at least attempt to understand a different point of view. For me, it was disheartening, and I bowed out. What used to be fun became so stressful. 

Imagine two people sitting across from each other at a table one sees a number 6 and the other says, "No, it's a 9." They argue over whether it is a 6 or a 9 and finally one says, "You know, I can see that you see a 9, if you come over here for a second you will see that I see a 6." That person doesn't (and won't) see a 6 and furthermore cannot believe you see a 6, so they decide, "If you cannot see the 9 then I cannot speak to you ever again."  What? But this happened! I had a friend on social media write me in private to tell me that they could not be my "friend" any longer because I "liked" a comment they didn't agree with. What?!  I said, "I am so sorry that bothered you, I would never unfriend someone because we don't agree." It didn't matter.  Unfriended and that was that. 

Different viewpoints are necessary for innovation, creativity, communication and growth. We learn from each other whether it's personal, academic, or spiritual.  Someone else may have a solution that I never would have thought of because of what they have lived through. My supervisor, from when I was a volunteer counselor, taught that we all operate from our own frame of reference. That has been a gem of a lesson for me, and I do my best to live by it. Let's do our best to embrace the differences and be grateful for those sometimes-colorful perspectives. 

The lesson: Just because I see a 6 and someone else may see a 9, doesn't' mean I have to change my view, I just have to understand that their perspective is not the same as mine.

Pouring hope, 
Nen♥

 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.  Rom 12:18