This is one picture, yet it can paint a thousand different stories, depending on who’s looking at it.
? A chiropractor may notice the tilted posture (and the shoes)
? A fashionista may notice the outfit (and also the shoes, but for a different reason than the chiropractor)
? A psychologist may notice the emotion in the eyes
? A detective may notice the hand placement is prime for leaving fingerprints, but the surface is not prime for recovering them
? A volleyball scout may notice “she’s got the height” but wonder if she’s got the hops
? A hairstylist may notice that those ends need a trim and a curl
? A photographer may notice the lighting and positioning
? A _____ may notice the ______
What do YOU notice?
What’s YOUR filter?
We, each one of us, looks at life through a lens, and that lens can be muddied, broken, or magnified, depending on our life experiences and generational junk (or blessings) that have been passed down.
You may not even pick up on the very first thing that drew someone else’s immediate attention.
Have you ever had that experience where you’re hanging out with someone and one of you starts laughing, seemingly out of nowhere, because that person noticed something that others hadn’t yet seen?
My eyes (and ears) are always on alert for animals, of any kind, and it distracts me from conversations sometimes, when I can hear the jingling of a dog collar, indicating that there’s a PUPPY somewhere nearby. Or if I hear a bird squawking, I’m definitely going to look for it, and also for whatever they’re squawking about!
We, each one of us, sees and hears different things, depending on our lens (aka our filters, our perspective, our experiences), and it’s a beautiful world when we can actually start looking at “what caused them to have that lens?” from a space of compassion and curiosity vs. immediately dismissing them because they have a different prescription lens than we do.
Be curious.
Be compassionate.
Towards others AND yourself.
Growth AND grace, remember. It’s universal.
