From seeing to Seeing
Developing the Depth and Clarity of Perception.
Our perspective and perception creates and changes our world.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust).
“If one wants to see a thing very clearly, one’s mind must be very quiet, without all the prejudices, the chattering, the dialogue, the images, the pictures – all that must be put aside to look.” (Krishnamurti)
Living with Open Hands as an expression of an Open Mind, Open Heart, and Open Will inevitably leads to learning to See and Hear with the heart past the surface level facade to the heart behind the facade, behind the words and actions of individuals and systems. This gives us a Way to See more clearly, more inclusively, more whole-istically, more deeply, more insightfully, and more extensively.
For me, this growth process has helped me express a paradigm shift that has affected my whole life for most of my life:
From seeing with my eyes to Seeing with my heart to Seeing with the eyes of the brokenhearted; Seeing life from the bottom, from the edges, from the margins. (for more, check out my late blog post)
As I write, I’ve been contemplating a concept that has taken root a number of years ago. I have noticed in myself that there are different levels of seeing. So several years ago, I started using two written versions of the word: seeing and Seeing.
There is seeing with the eyes or Seeing with the heart.
We can hear with the ears or Hear (Listen) with the heart.
When we listen to a person speak, no matter what they say, do we listen to the heart behind the words?
When we hear a song, whether we like it or not, do we listen to the creative expression, the heart behind the music?
When we look at a painting or a sculpture, do we look at it and through it to the heart of the artist?
When we hear a poem, do we listen for the heart that created it?
When we dialogue with someone of differing beliefs and values, do we look to the heart behind those beliefs and values?
“It is the ability to see beauty in all of life’s circumstances that gives our lives meaning.” (Victor Frankl)
In his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Victor Frankl describes a bowl of filthy water with a fish head floating in it, given to him by his Nazi captors in a concentration camp during WWII. He trained himself to see beauty in this meal, rather than focus on the horror of it. He attributed his ability to see beauty anywhere as a vital factor in surviving those horrific camps. He reminds us that if we focus on what’s ugly, we attract more ugliness into our thoughts, and then into our emotions, and ultimately into our lives. By choosing to hang on to one’s corner of freedom even in the worst situations, we can process our world with the energy of appreciation and beauty, and create an opportunity to transcend our circumstances.
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First we must look intently
with all of our heart,
with a pure heart
(free of bias and judgment).
Then and only then will we begin to See.
Wayne Dyer, The Power of Intention, p. 28
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