This morning was much ado about nothing. With work pretty much dead, the clouds outside and the resulting grey day very much matched my mood.
My initial thoughts before getting out of bed were to try to catch the sunrise, but when I pulled up the weather app on my phone, it was clear there wouldn’t be anything of the sort happening.
As the morning dragged on, I noticed that I was beginning to indulge myself and self-petty was rearing its ugly head. In these days of stay-at-home orders, it is easy to allow ourselves to mute our lives, particularly when aided and abetted by the weather.
Yesterday’s blog about making use of our free time began to fade into the background, as with my big project completed, I now needed to motivate myself forward into finding another on my list.
With lunch-time fast approaching (and not a child in the house washed), I grabbed my camera and went out into the yard to see if there was anything worth shooting. Coco was asleep on the front steps, Lola underneath the front steps, and Ruben was catching a cat nap on the rear steps.
So I slapped on a fish eye lens and managed to get a few pics before they had enough of the paparazzi and the annoyance I was causing.
I also took a few around the yard and I am adding them here … hope you enjoy.
I guess what became my blog thought out of this was how I adapted my initial doldrums and found something worthwhile to do. Even though initially nothing really looked worthwhile, I dropped the camera down very low to ground and just shot perspectives.
Sometimes we imagine that we see life the way it really is. But we forget that no matter what we see in front of us, it is only our perspective.
For example, the yard shots here are very likely what a mouse or squirrel might see as they hop from leaf to branch to tree, escaping those with a higher view than them.
Perspective is also why two people can witness the exact same incident unfolding (a crash perhaps) and come away with differing viewpoints on what they witnessed.
It is this singular fact that leads to there being no real truth in the world. At least not in a black and white sense. There is only perspective and the resulting interpretation.
It’s why history is never truth (as in it’s written by the victors), and why in battle everyone claims god is on their side. For example, should we be shocked that parts of the middle east see us as the great Satan, while we see ourselves as the voice of freedom?
But in a more personal sense, perspective is also why when we engage in arguments within our own immediate circles, both sides can walk away feeling totally aggrieved and right in feeling hurt.
That’s why the best tools to bring to a long relationship are the powers of forgiveness and the ability to forget. Self-conviction is a dangerous weapon to have in our makeup and rarely seen as a friend to non-idiots.
The ability to change perspective is on the contrary a very positive tool to have in our makeup. Finding a different way of looking at something and then adapting our approach is a path to success and eventual happiness.
Even inner-perspective is something that changes as we change. It is why we think we walk on water as children, but then later in life struggle to stay afloat.
These are not normal times and in times like this, we are best served by redefining “normal” to a level where we can draw some enjoyment from other avenues.
So when we wake up each morning, our perspective is a key ingredient to it being a happy day. If we begin our day feeling down or anticipating a poor day, then that is very likely how our day will go. If we change our approach and find a perspective that makes a stay-at-home order a bonus rather than a punishment, then we can give even a grey day a lift.
Try it.
