I have the most beautiful piece of art hanging on the wall above my desk and while I have looked at it countless times since it was hung there, it has taught me something new about perspective.
Position…
It is a stunning photo taken by my brother at Fairy Lake on Vancouver Island. Rising from the water is the end of a submerged Douglas fir stump. Tenaciously clinging to life on its tip is a small tree, possibly a hemlock that despite its tiny size is likely 30-40 years old.
It may be the most photographed tree on the island. It’s been featured on Atlas Obscura and a simple google search of ‘fairy lake bonsai’ will give you a staggering 1 830 000 results to sift through.
Not all of the photos are as amazing as my brother’s, but it’s possible I may be biased. I doubt it.
The blues and greens captured in the reflection are reminiscent of the northern lights. The light on the topside of the stump shimmers silvery on the ancient log. The golden yellow of the lichen, moss, and leaves gives the photo warmth and contrast.
I look at it and I see persistence, determination, and a fierce will to survive and thrive in difficult circumstances. To me, it is nothing short of inspiring.
And then my perspective was changed.
Oh – not on my brother’s photo – it is still stunning and I love it! No, my perspective was changed by another photo of the same tree that was featured in a beautiful coffee table book I bought at a little independent bookshop while on holiday.
I was leafing through the book and thought, ‘that looks familiar’. And sure enough, when I checked the photo caption it was the same tree as in my brother’s photo. But not.
Point of view…
This was a photo of most of the small lake with the tiny tree in the center. It definitely wasn’t showcasing the best features of the little bonsai. The water is muddy looking and the light is dull; the shrubs at the water’s edge look dead and covered in white lichen. I don’t love. I don’t even like it. And in the back of my mind, I’ve been mulling over how two photos of the exact same tree can make me feel so differently.
We recently had dinner with some friends who are moving away. We are going to miss them and we said so. We said how we hope it will be a good move for their family and that they will be happy in their new home. A joke was made that even if it’s not always good, it will still look good on Instagram and Facebook. We all laughed because we all knew exactly what that meant.
And this morning the penny dropped and I finally put my finger on the lesson of the two photos.
We present ourselves to the world on social media in a way that isn’t always the whole truth and sometimes it’s not truth at all. We reduce our lives to single moments, then we crop them, filter them, add a cute frame, and everyone ooh’s and aah’s. And we feel good about ourselves for a few seconds because people see our lives as enviable.
Sometimes the moment we choose to share is entirely the complete and unvarnished truth. It’s like my brother’s golden moment at Fairy Lake when the light was perfect, the water was still and offered a flawless reflection and the true beauty and inspiration of the diminutive bonsai tree was skillfully captured.
And if I’m really telling the truth, the photo I love so much could be altered in some way too. I don’t actually know. I just know how it makes me feel.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to filter and crop until what is left is beautiful. That’s not it at all…at least not today.
Interpretation…
What I’m saying today is that sometimes it’s okay to zoom in until what you see is beautiful.
When we shift our focus to what is good, what is lovely, and what inspires then we can, for a time at least, tune out the negativity that always seems to be crowding in from the edges; the worries and anxieties and judgments that distract us from what is important.
If we can keep our eyes on what makes us feel joy maybe we will be able to press through the harder parts of life.
It really is about perspective – how am I choosing to look at things?
My photographer brother says he never throws away images because sometimes he needs time to reconsider them – look at them from another angle. Sometimes that means adjusting them until he finds the beauty that his ‘eye’ knew was there. It’s a bit like a sculptor looking at a piece of marble and then carving it away to reveal the sculpture that was hiding inside the stone.
How is your perspective? Are you able to zoom in and find the beauty? Can you look through a filter of love, kindness, or compassion to see the good in others?
It’s something to think about…
Cathy I love this one. It can be challenging to see the good when negativity surrounds us, but I find it in the beauty that God paints in the sky, in the flower filled meadows and in each kind act.
Cathy I love this one!It is challenging to see the beauty when you are surrounded by negativity but I always see beauty in the sky God paints, in flower- filled meadows, the little birds that come to feed and in kind acts of others.
And the more we practice our perspective and seeing the good the easier it becomes to see it everywhere!
Its incredible how a different perspective can make such a significant difference, isn’t it? Thinking about this helps me to wrap my head around people who share completely different opinions on a topic.
Thanks for reading Britt 🙂 and yes, when someone’s point of view is so different from our own it helps to consider where they are coming from and why. Such a challenge in our increasingly polarized world.
Seeing things from a different perspective is such a great way to turn a negative into a positive. This is such a wonderful thought provoking article. Love it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Michelle! Thanks so much for your kind words 🙂
I also love this post. I’m really well familiar with a thing called the Big Book of AA. There’s a story in the back called Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict, and in that story is some of the greatest wisdom I’ve ever read. Like all deep spiritual truths, the concepts can be found across the spectrum of spiritual teachers and writing. But the way he said it changed my life and continues to do so. “We need a new pair of glasses, a new focus.” Essentially just what you said. “Whatever we focus on grows in meaning and importance.” So if I focus on the ugly, WOW! It’s everywhere. If I focus on beauty, there it is. Increasingly, I am trying to soften my gaze and see the beauty in every aspect of life. It’s all just a cycle. It’s all held in the heart of the one energy that enlivens all things. And no matter what, everything’s all right in the end. Love this post. Thank you for the reminder. And that tree!!!! 💕🙏🏻
Thank you for reading! And yes, this bit of wisdom isn’t new, but it can never be said too often.
I really love it when a whole raft of books, teachers, spiritual traditions all end up in the same place. There lies truth, I think. Such a comfort. 💕🙏🏻