Posts Tagged ‘Perspective’

Finding a Different View

Saturday, November 20th, 2010

Does daily drudgery cloud your view sometimes? Do you lose your zest for living when in the thick of hardship?

Exploration to an above-it-all space revives the spark I depend on. Its a step back, a rush up – to a different view. A new angle with fresh shadows, new colors, spanning horizons. It is the taking on of a borrowed lens. And with the refreshed screen comes a flood of new ideas and renewed excitement about the wonders of life – or simply a new resolve infused with gratitude. I can resume my role, my tasks. I am changed; I am revived – spirited to tackle a moment with a bigger or recolored picture in mind.

Though I may not always find a hot air balloon to ride or airspace above Africa, I can allow my mind to wander using virtual vehicles that transport me. It is in this spirit I share a video taken by one man who dreamed to balloon over the Masra Masai in Kenya.

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A Lens to Presence

Monday, May 10th, 2010

belmont-duckpond-500022When the day’s noise overtakes the still of now, I imagine my mother’s lens. It shows me moments of nature.

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She chases light that burns red and orange onto ripples of water and paints ducks to the shore. Framed in her eye is a canvas that captures patterns designed by time and presence to share with those who blink.

And I blink all too often, caught in busy work – blind to waves that froth to fury against rock’s edge – deaf to quiet moments by a pond where reeds reflect and water lilies open.

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rescan-11-15-04-waves61She is my mother – more than

grass-w-watermarthat – an inspiration, a path.  Wisdom. If I follow her gaze that “scans the horizon for beauty,” I’ll surely find rhythm and rest and more than me.

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Unbinding Chaos

Thursday, March 25th, 2010
State of Mind

My son designed a sculpture weeks ago. This presentation of great artistic magnitude reflects a certain state of mind I experience on occasion. The various elements or tasks of life are bound by stress. All things feel important. Order seems impossible.

To tackle such a mass of confusion, I need perspective and a  good dose of dopamine to help me see what’s there and begin unbinding the individual items.

I find perspective in the trees, flowers, earth, sky, and ocean. The fresh air clears my mind. A good walk, run, bike-ride, enervates the neurons that bring some extra release of dopamine where I’ll need it – the prefrontal cortex.

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What works for me is also supported by research as to what helps relieve some ADHD symptoms. Director of Landscape and Human Health Laboratory, Frances E. Kuo, and Andrea Faber Taylor report in their research that a walk in nature can help children with attention difficulties concentrate better.

In addition, much research links cardiovascular exercise with improvements in executive function. Among several researchers, John Ratey and John Medina are raising awareness of exercise and its crucial benefits, for everyone, but particularly those with attention challenges.

Not that my problems are solved by the flap of a butterfly’s wings, but nature and exercise better equip me to problem solve. I can be more creative and feel less burdened by the heavy hand of anxiety.

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Failure

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

What is failure to you? Do you fear it?

This topic was inspir105aed by the beginning of the classic movie with Julie Andrews,  “The Sound of Music.” While the Sisters attempt to “solve the problem of Maria” the wise Mother of the Abbey reserves judgment.

According to Wikipedia, “failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success.” This entry also states that “the criteria for failure are heavily dependent on context of use, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. A situation considered to be a failure by one might be considered a success by another, particularly in cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. Similarly, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation.”

It follows that thannex-andrews-julie-sound-of-music-the_01e stamp of failure deserves some questioning:

  • What is the context?
  • Who is the observer?
  • What is the belief system?
  • What criteria qualifies the status of failure?

    This further questioning might release the verdict and grant a more thorough evaluation.

    For those of you who know the movie, Maria discoveries a different path that expands the frame that held her “failure.”

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