"The miracle we seek is most often a shift in our perception." The prayer that goes along with this, for me, is "Holy Spirit. Help me to see this situation differently." Simple yet oh.so.profound. Maybe because it involves big ideas like surrender and trust.
I've also become convinced that, by and large, we see what we are looking for. Therefore, perception becomes incredibly important in our daily lives.
Probably three or four years ago, I started taking pictures when I would go on my walks on our dirt road. I don't even remember how or why I started. But I soon learned that it gave me pleasure to look for beauty and it made me feel gratitude.
I really believe that beauty is everywhere, if we have the eyes to see it.
Yes, in some seasons of life you may have to search for it much more diligently and other times it might be easy to spot. But it is there all the same.
So I've been thinking about photography and perception and lessons I have learned (am learning) in the past while.
I thought I would share some of them with you.
LESSON #1 --
You see what you are looking for.
This time of year, in Wisconsin, it is ugly. Everything is brown and white and bare and frigid.
Most of the world looks like this:
But...there is always beauty to be found.
LESSON #2 --
You have to slow down and pay attention to see the beauty around you.
The slower the pace, the more likely you are to have the perception to see beauty and the time to enjoy it.
In the midst of the boring, the brown, and the blah...I found this.
I guess I thought these birch stumps were kinda cool.
LESSON #3 --
You can choose what you focus on. You GET to choose what you focus on.
I'm not talking about having this unrealistic view of life and being this super annoyingly perky person who is just always so damn upbeat that other people feel like you don't even live in the real world.
Its just that I don't think that is the danger most of us face. And I'm pretty sure most of us could benefit from choosing to see and focus on the good and the positive.
LESSON #4 --
Utilize your filters. Every one of us has filters through which we view the world. Try to use one that not only helps those around you, but that also makes you happier in the meantime.
Example: Looking for good in people instead of assuming people are assholes and out to hurt you.
(Filter)
(No filter)
LESSON #5 --
If you don't like what you see, change where you are standing. (Emotionally, physically, mentally)
The other day, I took this really cool picture of a barn...through the trees.
I think this scene looks quite peaceful and picturesque.
But just so you know the rest of the story...when you get closer to the barn, there is a lot of junk and clutter around it and it really isn't all that pretty.
There is a dumpster, old equipment, other buildings, dirty snow, missing boards, you name it.
But there is also beauty to be found when you view it from a different vantage point.
LESSON #6 --
Try not to judge. We have habit of categorizing anything and everything.
This is good. This is bad. This is pretty. This is ugly. This is failure. This is success.
Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you don't always know what something really is?
Could you just let it BE? Suspend your judgment for a brief moment and see what happens. See how your world broadens and morphs into something different and possibly more helpful to your life.
Someone might look at this picture and see ugliness.
It is just a couple of rocks in the snow.
But someone else might see beauty and texture and colors and wonder.
Don't ruin it for them. Let others around you see what they see and don't discourage them or try to "bring them back to reality."
Like the fact that they are just in the McDonald's drive through. ;-)
Remember...the miracle you most often seek is just a shift in your perception.
But you've got to open your eyes and be willing to see!
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