Perspectives

I never really thought too much about perspective other than as an art technique to make pictures look more realistic. I showed a video called Perspectives as an inservice training for my employees one day and it made a lasting impression on me.

The gist of the film was that several people can see the same object or experience the same event, but they will all see it with "different" eyes or emotions based on many different factors. Their past experience with that object/event, their physical orientation to the object/event etc.

Since watching the film, I try to look at myself/people/events from multiple perspectives.

Myself:

How do I feel/look/seem to myself
How do I think others perceive how I look/my actions etc. Sometimes I might ask them - or listen carefully to their conversations with me to glean information about how they perceive me.

Others:

How do I see that person
How do others see that person

Events:

If it involves me - How did I react to it? I try to analyze why I reacted that way. How did others see it - I ask them, or listen to their conversations..

In conflict - I try to hear all sides of the story - see the big picture before I draw a conclusion. Sometimes there is missing information - and gaps. Like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

A friend shared with me about the Jahari Window - I think that is one way of explaining/defining how I view things.

Often, especially before making major decisions, I try to analyze the issue or problem from different perpectives before acting on it.