Learning to change how we see things can be unnerving to some.  We aren’t speaking of scaling Mount Everest here but for some individuals I think it would be easier to do that than to change their point of view on something.

Adrift2Notice how you respond to a request to see from a different place. Ego, pride, stubbornness, attachment to being right…so many things to consider. It takes just a little stretching to fix that. The thing is, we need to shoot for the next level in our overall consciousness in order to learn more, be more and add to our information and compassion banks. I know it isn’t that easy to let go of our attachments to our own points of view.


It helps to shake up how we operate a bit. If we aren’t exploring new ideas and new ways of gathering them we are missing a key element in the process of growing ourselves and we are not fully participating in adding value to this world. The progression works like this: Let go, see differently, change your mind., change yourself, change the world, alter the Universe. Or not. Seeing from a different place doesn’t mean we have to change our minds. It does give us more choices though.

If we are open to seeing possibilities unfiltered by judgement, we can learn to see patterns and connections. We’ll be better equipped to anticipate links from one domain of knowledge to another.

With the accelerated changes we are experiencing in our world, we need to be anticipatory in our thinking…especially those trying to keep up in the work place and the marketplace….but, too, for all who choose to remain relevant. It is mandatory for personal evolution and survival on some level..

Anticipation can be intoxicating. I am most excited about a project when I am not sure about where to begin the “it” thing, what it will look like or where it may end…what will show up from absolutely ‘nowhere’. Creating something from nothing or noticing that I just saw something differently…from out of nowhere…fuels my fire.! Of course ‘out of nowhere’ is a figure of speech. I like to think it comes from the universal information bank available to all of us. just by tapping in.. But we have to let go of our rigid sense of knowing in order to access it. Kind of like having a door pass. Most creative people understand this well. So, in a way, do people of science, systems theorists, engineers, etc. They all have to remain open. I’ll talk about the things that get in our way of accessing new ways of seeing later on.

Think of trapeze artists. In order to catch the second bar they have to let go of the first one. Somewhere, suspended between those trapezes, is where the magic and the stuff of life happens…suspended in not knowing, in ambiguity in the big question, what now? What if?  Possibility. Not a new analogy but a good one. So letting go of one way of seeing and operating needs to be surrendered in order to grab onto a new way….even for awhile.

Anticipating the future is a very different kind of seeing beyond the logic of empirical science. It  requires flexibility and a willingness to trust our gut and see beyond the obvious. Innovation happens when one sees a need or has a desire to create something and is able to field a myriad of ideas from as many perspectives, synthesize them, and find the inspired piece. Voila! In a split second of realization, an insight drops in. But first came the questions. like…what now, how and what if. Then, seeking and receiving information, not in a judgmental way but in a relaxed and discerning way that wants to understand no matter what. For me the new idea or viewpoint usually shows up when I surrender some of that over-critical, left-brain stuff that wants to analyze the life out of something before it can become a possibility. Plenty of time for that along the way. Since we all process differently, (some of us see the “it” thing from the first bit of detail and build to the big picture….others of us see the gestalt and reduce it from there to it’s minimum structure.), the path is a personal one. There is no right or wrong on that journey. I first land on an idea then set about demonstrating that it is viable…why not? What if? The vision comes first. That’s me.

 Next post:  How you see is what you get.