Are we all metaphorically blind? Our perspective is like a view from the place we stand and frequently influences what we think, say, feel, and perceive. As well as how we act.
One counterpoint to this is attempting to place ourselves in another person’s position. The filters we have in place can also be shifted by paying attention to the things we like about something that we reflexively dislike.
If you take your own personal experience and listen deeply to the experience of another you can gain a much fuller, richer, more complete picture. Imagine how this poem would go if what is being shared is viewed as a contribution for collaboration rather than an assertion for competition. What if time and energy were invested in not jumping to snapshot conclusions?
Blind Men and the Elephant – A Poem by John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)
It was six men of Indostan,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approach’d the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -“Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”
The Third approach’d the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” -quoth he- “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” -quoth he,-
“‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said- “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” -quoth he,- “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
MORAL,
So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean;
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
When we look at things in hindsight, there are often occasions where our current level of awareness is far greater than the limited view we had when we took a particular action. Sometimes, we judge ourselves harshly for these decisions given our new understanding. With compassion for ourselves though we let it go realizing that we are doing the best in any given moment working from the perspective we have. Our drive to grow that prompts curiosity and exploration is always to be celebrated. As in this poem, it is not a mistake even if it is not perfect.
Image by laurent marx from Pixabay
