Restaurant (Walla Walla, Washington) through Glass

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern. ~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

On this blog I talk a lot about perception – noticing what is felt through the senses and then also noticing the labels we put on those perceptions. The photographic practice of noticing our perceptions helps us to really see and appreciate what’s right in front of us – a good skill for life.

In her fabulous article, The Mind is its Own Place, Tracy Cochran quotes Milton from the book Paradise Lost:

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.

To me, this is the definition of heaven and hell, something we create ourselves, usually with our minds in terms of how we perceive things. This is why being aware of our perceptions and also how limited they are is so, so important.

I had an example of this hit me over the head last weekend – on Mother’s Day.

My son posted a picture on Facebook that had words at the top and the bottom. It was related to Mother’s Day and he made a comment about the picture. That morning I pulled up my Facebook page and saw only the picture and his words, not the words at the top and bottom of the picture. This gave the picture an entirely different meaning and one that upset me very much.

Now, I am pretty computer savvy and know that you’re supposed to click on a picture to see the whole thing. But my emotions (and mind) got the best of me and immediately triggered past experiences where I may not have done everything right as a mother.

I sent my son a message asking him what the picture meant. He didn’t understand why I was asking and said that it was pretty straightforward. This upset me even more.

However, instead of saying “How could he?” – this really was not like my son (especially on Mother’s Day), I stayed with what I was feeling, and really felt the sadness and where it was coming from. No, I was not a perfect mother, yet my kids love me anyways.

We went back and forth a bit until I accidentally clicked on the picture and saw the words. Now, it was clear and his words took on a completely different meaning.

Luckily, we were able to communicate and stay with it until we both could see what had happened and finally laugh about it. By the way, the words were about loving your Mom unconditionally.

This is the problem with perception. It is always limited. And, if we truly believe our limited perceptions it can take on a whole new meaning that some additional information might completely change.

Cochran says that there is a space between perception and reaction where possibilities lie.

We need to aspire to something very small, to be willing to pause before we react, to be with our experience, to wait and see what arises.

Don’t let your mind get the best of you. Realize that there are always missing pieces in our perceptions. Get curious about what those are.

P.S. These are the type of topics we cover in Adventures in Seeing – a 9 week online workshop in contemplative living, which begins June 3rd. It is open for registration now (at a reduced rate until May 18th).