LOOKING THROUGH THE PRISM
I have been fascinated by prisms for the last several years. They fascinate me because each viewer can see a different view when peering through a prism.
I had the view that it was our imaginative minds and individual perceptions that produced this outcome.
However, in my research I found the scientific reason: the programming in our brains interprets light differently based on our individual biology, past experiences, and current state of mind.
The science is interesting. But the metaphor is even more powerful.
We all look through a prism.
Each of us sees the world through our own unique lens. What I see as blue, you might see as purple. What I see as a problem, you might see as an opportunity. What I see as an ending, you might see as a beginning.
Neither of us is wrong. We are just looking through different prisms.
How does this apply to caregiving and grief?
When my mother was ill, my siblings and I often saw the same situation differently. One of us saw a medical decision one way; another saw it completely differently. One of us felt we were doing too much; another felt we were not doing enough.
We were all looking through our own prisms. And that was okay.
The key is to remember that your prism is not the only prism. Your view is not the only view. Your truth is not the only truth.
Be curious about other people’s prisms.
Ask them what they see. Ask them why. Do not assume your view is correct and theirs is wrong.
When we recognize that we are all looking through different prisms, we become more compassionate. We become more patient. We become more understanding.
Take a moment today to consider your own prism. How does it color your view of the world? And how might someone else’s prism show you something you have been missing?