Trying On Another Set of Lenses

As a life coach, I do a lot of work with my clients around “perspectives.”  Fundamentally, I’ve come to hold the belief that your experiences really do take on a different feel and flavour depending on the perspective from which you view them.  I mean, really, if you’re standing on one side of the fence, you’re going to see something different from what can be seen on the other side of the fence, right?  Sometimes, though, it’s not so much about switching vantage points, as it is about switching lenses.

Let me give you an example.  Most people will willingly concede that the sky is blue on a bright, sunshiny day.  This seems to be the general consensus certainly.  What I know for sure, however, is that if you view that same sky, on the same day, with yellow-tinted lenses, you will see the sky as green.  “Yellow and blue make green” is one of the first things we learn when experimenting with blending and mixing colours    In other words, while you can get a different take on things by physically switching your vantage point, sometimes you don’t have to actually move — you only have to switch your lenses.

Through what lens do you tend to view the world?  What would you notice if you changed it up?  what would become available to you– what insight, what piece of information, what understanding?

What I know for sure is this:  as much as it might be easier to believe otherwise, the world does not exist in black and white, right and wrong, you and me.  The world exists, instead, on a wide scale of possibilities.  Taking the opportunity to view your experiences with different lenses from time to time can actually make your experiences richer, provide more texture, more breadth.  It may not be something you want all the time.  And, it absolutely can enrich your life.  So what lens will you try on today?