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Waking up: A matter of perception” has been running through my head and heart recently. Remember this famous image of the old/young woman?
Waking up: A matter of perception” has been running through my head and heart recently. Remember this famous image of the old/young woman?
Here’s another version:
And another image. What do you see? Rabbit or duck?
Which do you see first? Can you see both or are you stuck on one? Can you switch easily from one to the other? Can you hold the “truth” or message in each? Our answers to these questions indicate a growth mindset, and can transform our lives. And they may relate to our capacity to “wake up” from our habitual trance of familiarity, seeing what we want to see, hearing only the messages resounding in our echo chambers. Learning to see and listen to what is not familiar or comfortable is key to awakening from the trance of Bad Othering, as Tara Brach teaches. Life transformation indeed!
Being aware that we can see the same situation from a range of different perspectives totally changes our experience, and influences how we react or respond. Both our reactivity and/or our appropriate responses ripple out into a cascade of influences in our own and others’ lives. So it helps everyone and everything for us to bring awareness to the matter of our perceptions.
I’d love to hear what comes up for you around the questions of perception, holding sometimes contradictory and unfamiliar views without dismissing them out of hand…being curious about different perspectives and perceptions… we’re in this together.
Sending you warm greetings, no two ways about that :-), and wishes for a lovely month, season, and many wakings up for you, small and large,
Jill
Some posts you might enjoy:
• Bee Kind: What a Difference It Makes! A lovely teaching story about bees and bee-ing kind. Heart-warming.
• Perception Affects Reality. “The real voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes but in having new eyes.” —Marcel Proust
And in case you would like to delve deeper into the matter of perception, here are some provocative, inspiring, illuminating links:
• Cool video from Upworthy about how harsh we are on ourselves compared to how others see us. Very poignant, the matter of perception, and what a huge effect our view can have.
• What is the Next Story… Charles Eisenstein, a brilliant, controversial speaker, writer, philosopher compares our old stories of separation with with fresh new stories of connection and interbeing. Perception changes everything!
Jill Schroder is the author of BECOMING: Journeying Toward Authenticity. BECOMING is an invitation for self-reflection, and to mine our memorable moments for insights, meaning, and growth. Check the website for a sample chapter, or see the reviews to get a flavor for the volume. Follow me on BlueSky. let’s be friends on Facebook.
