The Transformative Power of Perspective

To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.

Wrote 17th Century poet, William Blake, in one of his most loved poems, pointing us to the extraordinary miracles present in every moment and particle, hidden only by our incapacity to notice them.

Exploring the way we perceive reality has long been spoken of as a gateway to a greater understanding of ourselves and the world, by spiritual teachers, scientists, artists and poets alike. There are infinite perspectives from which life can be viewed, if we can suspend our beliefs about the way things are, and look anew; more deeply, more curiously and more humbly. From such a vantage point, they say, transformative change can become possible not only within ourselves, but in the world, too.

Discovering an Orbital Perspective

NASA astronaut, Ron Garan, first became aware of this possibility as he soared through the inky blackness of outer space in 2008, attached to the remote arm of the International Space Station. Beneath him, planet Earth glowed like a beautiful blue jewel hanging in a vast universe. As he took in this vision, suspended millions of miles from the only home he had ever known, he watched the line that separated day from night move across its curved surface, casting long shadows as thunderstorms flashed. Cities and towns came alive with lights as the darkness of night cloaked them, shooting stars flared across the heavens and curtains of shimmering auroras danced.

Looking at planet Earth from this great distance, seeing it as a whole, living, breathing organism, he experienced himself and this life from a new perspective.

“I was filled with awe. That perspective and vantage point that we [astronauts] have of seeing our planet from space kind of changed everything.” says Garan about the experience. He notes in another interview:

Being physically detached from Earth made me feel deeply connected with everyone on it.

Garan’s experience of profound connection to the Earth as a living being brought with it an equally strong awareness of life’s fragility. He could feel the contradiction between the beauty he was witnessing and the immense challenges that exist on its surface. He writes in his book, The Orbital Perspective:

As I looked down at the Earth–this stunning, fragile oasis, this island that has been given to us and has protected all life from the harshness of space–a sadness came over me, and I was hit in the gut with an undeniable sobering contradiction. In spite of the overwhelming beauty of this scene, serious inequity exists on the apparent paradise we have been given. I couldn’t help thinking of the nearly one billion people who don’t have clean water to drink, the countless number who go to bed hungry every night, the social injustice, conflicts and poverty that remain pervasive across the planet.

The impact of this new perspective gave Garan a sense of the greater whole of which he was an intrinsic part. It awakened a feeling of responsibility within him, guided by what he saw to be both the urgency and possibility of change; of living in a different way.

If we all looked at the world from that perspective we would see that nothing is impossible.

Garan was not alone. Many astronauts have had similar experiences while observing Planet Earth from outer space, as is beautifully documented in the film Overview. This has come to be known as the Overview Effect, which is described as “the experience of seeing first hand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, hanging in the void, shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere.” These astronauts say:

From space the conflicts that divide us become less important and the need to create a planetary society with the united will to protect this ‘pale blue dot’ becomes both obvious and imperative. Even more so, many of them tell us that from the Overview perspective, all of this seems imminently achievable, if only more people could have the experience!

Part of a greater wholeLooking at the bigger picture instills a sense of being part of a greater whole. Image: Hudson Hintze

As a result, Garan was catapulted onto an altered life path, inspired to bring a new attitude to the challenges that face humanity; one rooted in our interconnectedness. Today, he works through initiatives such as Fragile Oasis and Impact CoLab, to inspire, connect and support those hundreds of thousands of people and organisations that are already making a difference or who wish to make a difference, to help them amplify their efforts by coming together.

We have all of the resources [and] technology to solve many if not all of the problems facing the planet… it is within our power to reduce or even eliminate the suffering and poverty that exists.

If only we can work together, says Garan.

Beginning Closer to Home

Of course, most of us will never have a chance to travel into space to experience the kind of perceptual shift that Garan did. But is this necessary, or could these opportunities be far closer to home?

According to Indian visionary, Jiddu Krishnamurti, we need look no further than exactly where we are to embark on such a quest. He spoke of seeing ‘what is’ as an essential step towards any truly transformative change within ourselves and society; one he felt we rarely explore with any serious conviction.

Seeing is the transformation. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

In saying this, he is pointing to the potential inherent in looking at ourselves, and the world around us, with greater sensitivity and awareness.

For Krishnamurti, seeing of this nature did not happen through the eyes alone, but was a meeting with the outer world through all of our senses. For this, we need to become quiet, letting go of what we believe we know. From this more silent inner space, he said, a shift in vantage point can happen, allowing one to perceive reality in a more expansive and holistic way, as Garan did, and access possibilities that had, until then, been inconceivable.

Looking at a problem through old eyes, it is not only strengthened, but also moves in its well-worn path. This is the miracle of perception, to perceive with a heart and mind that are completely cleansed of the past.

Scientist and writer Donella Meadows arrived at the same conclusion through her lifelong study of systems theory. In her beautiful essay on Leverage Points for System Change, written in 1999, she outlines a series of twelve pathways or ‘leverage points’ of increasing potency through which one can bring about changes within a system–be it a person, a company, a city, an economy, a community, ecosystem or indeed a planet.

Like Krishnamurti, Meadows speaks of the most powerful and elusive pathway to change being the letting go of all preconceptions and assumptions about the way things are; of resting in the humility of our situation as human beings, with our limited understanding of this universe in which we find ourselves. In doing so, she says, we create the opportunity for new ways of seeing to emerge, from which new paradigms, system goals, rules and structures (be they economic, political, informational, technological or social) can be born.

Such a shift within a person can be instantaneous, taking no more than a millisecond. It is the most rare, yet potentially most powerful, source of change she adds.

All it takes is a click in the mind, a falling of scales from the eyes, a new way of seeing.

The Difficulty of Seeing

Of course, seeing beyond all that gets in the way is far from easy. It requires us to acknowledge and begin to engage with the multitude of opinions, beliefs, wounds and attachments that shape our realities, many of which are subconscious.

David Ulrich was an artist who began to explore the nature of ‘seeing’ when he lost sight in one of his eyes in an accident. It became a journey of profound discovery of both himself and the world, and of just how many obstructions exist within us to experiencing ‘what is’.

What we call ‘seeing’ is typically a reflection of our ceaseless inner dialogue, he says, in an article for Parabola.

Our inner dialogue tends to support our particular worldview, our image of ourselves and our subjective beliefs. We know too much; we can name and provide a label for everything under the sun. We have our own agendas, our predisposed attitudes and our own cultural biases. We rarely see the world in a fresh way or question the numerous and often unconscious filters that influence the nature of our perception.

Indeed, these ‘perceptual filters’ of which Ulrich speaks are the lenses through which we engage with the world. They are a reason that my truth isn’t always your truth. They give a form, impact, and energy to every impression that comes towards us and in doing so, shape our responses. They are the very ground (albeit shaky) upon which our selves and lives are built, says Krishnamurti, and are a key source of the separation and conflict we experience in the outer world as they prevent us from experiencing our intimate connection with every particle of life. For if we did, we could not help but act for the welfare of all; as we would see every life form as a part of ourselves. As Krishnamurti says in The Urgency of Change:

The whole world is broken up and is as fragmented outwardly as its human beings are fragmented inwardly. In fact this outer fragmentation is the manifestation of the human beings’ inner division.

Starting with this Moment

For Ulrich, the journey of learning to see more deeply lead him to value those moments in which he was able to access this bigger, richer picture–even for a moment. He also came to recognise the inner intention, or willingness, that was required on his part in order to truly open out his capacity to see.

Seeing can be cultivated, indeed must be, if we wish to live full and productive lives, sensitively receiving and richly giving to ourselves and others. It must always be born in our hearts and minds that we are the primary medium of the creative act–not film or clay, paints or words.

From this perspective, seeing becomes a lifelong journey, rather than a destination. One that begins anew with every moment, offering the potential to connect us to hope, new insights and most of all, one another, as we seek solutions to the ever-deepening conflicts we face today. If we are lucky, as we venture on this journey, we may also be touched by the joy and timelessness that Blake discovered in a simple grain of sand.

~

Have you ever experienced having a change of perspective that has altered your life in some way? We’d love to hear about it, perhaps it can help inspire and change our own! Feel free to share in the comments below.

With love and clarity of sight and heart,

Team UPLIFT

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Virginia McCorkle
5 years ago

When we’re given channeled guidance that resonates deeply within us before & as it’s given, it can be shattering to a sense of limitation or ‘connection’ by trashing all, ANY-Thing that can separate or define us as anyThing other than spiritual beings having human experiences. Some of the shattering involves notions of our separate-ness [NOT], our independence [NOT], our identity~here, depending on levels of openness, it’s possible to see ourSelves as Light beings of divine frequency/vibration, a shimmering glimpse of golden light, moving fluidly, in ways that totally shatter beliefs/attitudes that deny spirit or one’s ability to see, interact with it. This is our birthright–our inheritance, if you will, to be able to Know we are divine, that life is opportunity defined by many choices, not all available at once, yet able to be received when we are able, on any level/aspect of our being, to connect with and appreciate the interplay & involvement of so many Light beings in so many forms of Love!
Thank you!!

Dave Bosomworth
5 years ago

Speaking of myths and perspective, how about rewriting your own narrative identity. As one who writes poetry, I found, when I was 70 (I’m now 75) that I was writing far too many poems about the death of my twin sister when we were 4 1/2 years-old. She had cerebral palsy that crippled her limbs and she never spoke words (I found out when I was 20). We had a strong psychic bond, so I became aware that perhaps her death was early childhood trauma for me. The little I remember had themes of betrayal and abandonment that have clung to me far too long. So I wrote a novelette called THE PASSING:A Story of Some Consequence. What I could not remember I made up, creating a different story that was a process of growing beyond these feelings with the aid of an imaginary friend for me to talk to, (who was real in the narrative). What resulted was a theme of wonder, mystery, magic and triumph; every child’s wish. When I finished this story (with pictures) some two years later, I felt lighter. I have never written a story about my sister since; but I have written many about my imaginary friends!!

Jean Price
5 years ago

Several years ago, I was struggling to define how we know if someone truly loves us. I’d just heard a discussion at my place of work about thinking of love as a color…which actually made it easy to see why we may not always feel love from someone who gives us a color that’s different from how we see love! I was thinking about all of this while I was showering, when suddenly I felt as if the top of my head opened up and I was filled with the purest, brightest love I’d ever experienced. I felt like I literally glowed! And the thought which I “heard” as it formed in my mind was…”You ARE loved!”. This “happening” instantly…and forever…changed me! It opened my heart and mind to what I could only call God, and it healed me in ways I continue to discover through the years. Of course I wanted to share this remarkable gift…to give it away to everyone! Yet trying to explain it and put words on it just made it seem smaller…and even weird or confusing to others! This sense of love has never left me, and I’ve definitely needed to hold onto it to help me through many physical struggles since then. I still wish I could give it away so others might also find he peace and joy it has brought me! Yet I know I can only live my life as a reflection of What I receieved…and hope others will benefit from that. I continue to feel like I’m living proof of a Divine and loving power…a source of miracles and abundance, hope and endless grace…and eternal love!

Mrk
5 years ago

Excellent article, thank you! All about getting out of the head and into heart. Seems simple, but not for me! I keep trying to find experiences that will allow a shift to take place. Closest I come is during an extended silent meditation retreat. Had a few minor shifts so I know the possibility exists! Thanks again.

Bob Lastick
5 years ago

Congratulations, Uplift! These three articles failed to elicit in me a aha moment but positively elicited a verry powerful AAAAAHAAAAAA feeling of thankfulness that others also feel this need I have felt for a while to find for our species a new story, a new “myth” to believe in and work toward achieving.
It will not be easy and I know I will have to commit to coming to grips with my own heavily entrenched perspectives, but like they say, “that’s the job….YOU UP FOR IT??!!

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Curiosity arises out of not knowing.

Curiosity is our natural ability to look at things with fresh eyes.
Forgoing opinions, previous ideas, or expectations,
approaching all with the wonder and innocence of a child.
Being curious brings us into a natural, open, and vast space of freedom
to explore:

“What is this?”
“What am I experiencing?”
“What am I feeling?”

4. Bring more awareness to what you are feeling. Focus on your felt experience and the qualities of the Inner Resource as you embody it. Resist the habit to analyze. Simply feel your body and emotions. 

5. Be open to your current experience, whatever it is, without judgment. Just ride the wave of the experience.

6. Remember that the quality of your attention and what you are feeling are more important than the content. Notice how your attention changes, waxing and waning, growing stronger, and sometimes getting distracted. No worries, simply bring your awareness back to the moment, take a deep breath, and focus on the Inner Resource.

7. Become familiar with the feelings and sensations of the Inner Resource you have chosen. Feel what is showing up in your physical body and your emotional body. Be curious to discover how this Inner Resource will support you in your life, to be who you really want to be, and feel how you really want to feel. It is through feeling the Inner Resource that you activate the frequency of it. 

Take 5 Deep Breaths

1. Feel your body.

2. Relax your shoulders.

3. Choose a word that makes you feel peaceful, such as om, peace, or love.

4. Inhale slowly while mentally saying the word you chose. Pause before starting the exhalation.

5. Exhale slowly while mentally saying 1 with the first breath. Exhale saying 2 with the second breath, up to 5 or more.

Feel Your Body

Relax your body, and just be aware of how your body feels. Without changing anything, notice what you are feeling, and where you are feeling things in your body. Resist analyzing or explaining anything to yourself, just notice what you feel. If your body wants to adjust a little, let it. 

Notice the texture and color of what you are feeling and where you are feeling it. Note the quality of what you are feeling; it might be tingly or sharp, squeezing or rippling, or anything else. Be curious about what is happening in your body.

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