It’s All In How You See It

I recently had what I would call a “bad hair” day. I have no idea what happened, it was just flat and weird in the front. I tried to “zhoosh”, but my hair was having none of it.  I was on my way out to meet friends, and I knew they would not care about my hair disappointment.

We had a wonderful time together, talking and laughing and just catching up.  Then it was photo time and I had not a thought about my hair’s recalcitrance. I smiled and moved on.

Until I was sent the photo. Now, not only was my hair a letdown, but I had several rather unkind thoughts about my choice of pose.  All of this occurred in the blink of an eye. Then I read the accompanying text.

“I love this photo and you.”

Immediately it snapped me back to reality. I was busy finding faults and perseverating about my hair while someone else simply saw love when they looked at the same photo. It was eye opening and heart opening in that moment to realize that we all see what we want to see in photos, life and circumstances.

It is not new news, but it was a great reminder that sometimes it does help to look at things from the outside rather than your own skewed perception. It also helped with a conversation I was having with another friend who is working on a project. When we know something intimately, we place value on it that does not exist for others. Then we load on some more meaning, and it can cause us to get bogged down in the decision-making process. It is the thing that often flummoxes me when I am trying to pare down the possessions in this house. While it all holds memories for me, they are my memories and potentially will just be something to give away when I am gone. It is just how it should be, but it can paralyze you at times.

I think I shall spend the next bit of time seeing myself through the eyes of the people who love me, because the work is just never done.