I'm planning a celebratory trip!

Take Pen to Paper: Edtion 31 - It's teaching me how we each approach events with different perspectives.

Our perspective is based on the preconceptions we develop through experiences, likes and dislikes, and personal characteristics.

We bring to our experiences our perceiving eye instead of our observing eye.

An observing eye allows us to see without making judgments. Our perceiving eye will pass judgment based on preconceptions.

My husband and I are going on a trip to celebrate our 40th anniversary. A big anniversary calls for a big trip. We are going to Scotland.

We have each researched in our own way. We have different perspectives on how to approach learning about the area we will visit. I prefer to read the literature and memoirs of the country, including two of Sir Walter Scott’s novels. My husband goes straight to the documented history.

Today I learned from my husband some historians blame Scott and Scottish poet Robert Burns for idealizing and perpetuating the romanticized version of the Scottish Highlander. We see this in romance novels, TV, and movies. Think of the Outlander series.

My preconceptions told me to be offended. Somewhere in there was an insult to my past reading choices. I didn’t get offended. I listened.

In reality, the highlands were sparsely populated and not representative of Scotland or England at the time. Scott’s and Burn’s writing was so popular even within their lifetime their perspective was embraced. You see this in the Scottish tourism industry today.

Listening to my husband’s perspective gave me another lens to view my research. I can choose to use the lens or not.

You have the same choice when you are exposed to others’ perspectives.

Just think, with our perceiving eye, no two people will look at the same event the same way.

It is so difficult to use an observing eye. We must open ourselves to how others perceive the same event, especially if it differs from ours.

The decision to agree is your choice.

Open yourself to listening and viewing different perspectives.

No judgment is required, just observe.

Photo by S.G.S. Abel

7 Days, 7 Thoughts on Gratitude and Good

1. Would you hang the above painting in your house? The Birmingham Museum of Art has a varied collection. I highly recommend it. From my perspective, this is the one piece I would hang in my house. (Sadly, I did not note the artist.) 🎨🖌🖼

2. It’s good that we have different perspectives. They reflect our likes and dislikes. Being open to others’ perspectives helps us learn and create. I’m not crazy about snails and slugs, but someone is. Check out this article and video.

3. A quote: "In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. I follow Tiny Doors on Instagram. I didn’t know the story behind them (pun intended) until I read this article. Karen Anderson Singer wants you to use your imagination.

5. Product branding is all about what appeals to us based on how we perceive it through our senses. Take a scroll through over 100 years of the Pepsi logo.

6. How do cars see the world? Or should I say autonomous vehicles? Here’s a brief explanation. 🚗

7. If only my passport picture showed as much character as these.

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I love to know what you are thinking. Leave a comment! I always answer.

❤

-Susan