Seeing Can Be Deceiving

Recently, Ellen and I were hiking in the woods looking for the first signs of spring. Along the trails, several different kinds of wildflowers were emerging. I was trying to find one specific species in a certain area, so I was scanning all around me for that particular plant. I found that one, but Ellen drew my attention to a lovely white bloom just inches from where I had just passed. It hit me that so often we become so hyper-focused on a singular thing that we totally miss so much more that is going on around us.

This reminded me of a video I saw many years ago about basketball players and a gorilla. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, authors of The Invisible Gorilla, created an experiment that notably demonstrated that we do not always see what is plainly going on in front of us. (Check out the video and their work at http://www.theinvisiblegorilla.com/videos) Their insights highlight that we cannot trust our own eyes sometimes. Similarly, we cannot trust our own beliefs fully either.

While this can be disconcerting and unsettling, it can also open our hearts and minds to the reality that everything we know and see is just a part of a much bigger whole. Understanding this can temper our pride and arrogance of believing we have all the answers. When we take a moment to see things at a different pace and through a broader lens, we increase our capacity to view the world through more compassionate eyes.

If we truly embrace that none of us knows the whole story, we can choose to listen to others more intently to seek a deeper understanding. By accepting that we are not the center of the universe, we can connect to the world around us in a more authentic way. With this humble mindset, we may actually get to see the things we seek with greater clarity than ever before.