What is opinion? What is perspective? I find myself asking this more and more in the ever-changing social media world that we live in. Where opinions are seen as facts and others points of views are not considered, weighed, valued, or fact checked. Is my perspective reality and the way the world should be viewed, or is it just the way that I have grown accustomed to view the world?
Perspective is a point of view. A version of reality that we have created around the facts of a situation. And perspective is key in this situation. What is the reality or the viewpoint that I am taking? I can see things from a lot of perspectives but that doesn’t mean that any of them are accurate. And it doesn’t mean that any of them are wrong. Perspective is different than fact. Fact is an absolute. If there were 100 people, all witnessing a football play where a player crossing the end zone line was in question all 100 people can agree to some facts from the situation. Not whether the touchdown happened. That’s perspective. But they can all agree that the play clock stopped, and the play concluded. That’s fact. The rest starts to cross the lines of perspective. If it’s my team in questions that may have made the touchdown my reality might focus on, they crossed the line because well they’re my team and I want them to win so I can celebrate. A fan from the opposing team might see it differently because they want the same thing. To win.
Perspective is created by the environment that I am in, the way I was raised, how I was treated, the events that I’ve experienced, etc. this viewpoint creates the way that I view the world. Colored glasses so to speak that tint the way that we view every new event or experience that we have.
For example: If someone has experienced significant trauma and hurt in their lifetime thus far, they may view the world from a trauma lens. They may see every interaction as scary and dangerous. Where others will take advantage of them, and they aren’t safe. This trauma lens might help keep this person safe, but it can also isolate and paralyze them from taking chances or living life. The viewpoint or perspective that they have may even become ever present and they look for situations where things are unsafe to validate this thought pattern. Does that mean that all situations are unsafe or dangerous for this person? The probable answer is no. Are there unsafe and manipulative people in the world, yes. But based on this person’s trauma lens that’s all they see. They don’t see the potential good in others or the acts of kindness being done. Once when talking to someone that had a habit of seeing the world through a trauma lens explained to me why they didn’t drive or take public transportation. They quoted how many car accidents happen daily and even a huge accident that was televised recently about a bus that crashed and how many people of the bus were injured and the ones that died. I actively listened to their point of view and validated their feelings. I then questioned about the statistics on all the cars that don’t crash daily. And how many buses run daily that didn’t crash. Why haven’t we heard about or were talking about that? They weren’t able to answer this yet. They hadn’t yet explored what it would be like to take off the “colored glasses” that tinted their world with trauma and destruction and doom at every turn.
But what if we were able to expand on a point of view, or see things from another angle? During football games they have hundreds of cameras at multiple points of the field. Capturing the moves of all the players from different spots to be able to review at a moment’s notice if needed when a perspective check is needed. Someone at one spot of the field might see a situation one way but when offered a different view from another spot on the field they might see it differently. Discuss the interpretations and look at things from another angle. This could be applied to so many other situations. Not to change your world but to see it from a different point of view to then chose. If one only sees the world as dangerous, they aren’t likely to ever to chances. They might never enroll in school, travel, drive, date, etc. But if they were able to take another look and see the world from another point it may open opportunities that they had never considered. Increase events that may be pleasurable and connect them with others that wouldn’t have been possible if the idea that everyone is dangerous was the driving thought and feelings into their day-to-day actions.
This idea of expanding our perspective doesn’t mean that we’re out here changing minds or wanting others to see things the way I do. This is a technique to consider and practice. To be able to slow down some thoughts that happen that lead to feelings of distress or unhappiness. Being able to consider other points of view allow opportunity to problem-solve and connect differently to ourselves internally and the world around us. This is considered a cognitive based intervention to work towards change and address potential symptoms that someone might experience daily that are connected to mood disturbances, anxiety, trauma, relationship discord, and more.
To be different we must do different. So, the next time you find yourself taking a specific perspective ask yourself: How could working towards creating additional perspectives in my life increase your empathy, compassion, and connections?
