Perspective is an interesting thing, isn’t it? When we were in Toronto this week, we stayed in a condo overnight and I had this unusual view out my bedroom window. Everything seemed both larger and tinier than in real life…
Some perspectives are comfortable for us. Others leave us feeling off-kilter.
Having lived my entire life in the suburbs, I didn’t realise just how uncomfortable this perspective would feel for me until I was there. But it turns out I *really* don’t like heights, and I also feel claustrophobic if I can’t see the sky, and it took me a while to be able to appreciate this view.
Perspective differences don’t just crop up when I’m 33-storeys high. In fact, in my context they’re far more common in my relationships with my teens and partner, with my extended family, with my friends and neighbors.
So what do we do? We get HONEST about them. We NAME the existence of the difference so that we become AWARE of what is going on.
Then we GROUND ourselves in our values, so that we feel SECURE.
Finally, we bring our honest, grounded selves to the conversation with a COMPASSIONATE CURIOSITY about the other person’s perspective.
And, if we’re lucky, we’ll discover the BEAUTY hiding behind what we previously could only fear.
Heather R. Morgan 